Illegal jumbo ride to rev up Onam

ALAPPUZHA: Captive elephants are being used by private parties on the sly for entertaining tourists who come here to celebrate Onam. To attract customers, they have put up a flex board on an electric post near the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) with a contact number.
On calling up the number, a woman who called herself Suramya said they were into elephant rides for tourists. “The rate is Rs1,000 per person for an hour and its near the Punnamada resort here,” she said.
The ride is very much on despite the fact that elephants have been declared as heritage animals, a rule which came into effect on November 4, 2010. Hence, elephants are not to be used for personal benefits or enjoyment. Though the board appeared more than two weeks ago, the authorities are yet to take action against this.
It’s learnt that the elephants being used for the rides were brought to Alappuzha from other forest divisions in the State without obtaining the statutory prior permission from the office of the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). Alappuzha District does not have access to the DFO to verify such illegal activities though the district has an Assistant Conservator (Social Forestry).
T.K.Venkitachalam, Secretary, Heritage Animal Task Force said the Performing Animals (Registration) Rule 2001, had stipulated that nobody could use animals for any kind of performances. “Nobody has been given the authority to set up advertising boards carrying the pictures of tourists enjoying elephant rides. It needs registration certificates from the Animal Welfare Board of India, Chennai. This is clearly an unauthorised advertisement. The offices of the District Collector and the police chief are the prime accused. They are protecting those who abuse heritage animals. I will certainly register a complaint with the officials concerned”, he said.