Thrissur: The Project Elephant under Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has constituted a high power committee to look into the issues related to the healthcare, welfare and management of captive elephants in the country.
It is for the first time the Project Elephant which was constituted for the welfare of captive and wild elephants in 1982 has formed such a committee to look into the issue of captive elephants across the country.
Indian Forest Service officer Noyal Thomas, who had earlier served as the wildlife warden in Peechi is the chairman of the high power committee named Captive Elephant Healthcare and Welfare Committee (CEHWC).
According to the notification issued by (MoEF&CC) for the constitution of the committee Dr Easwaran E.K. senior forest veterinarian with Kerala Forest Department and Dr T.S. Rajeev, professor Kerala Veterinary University are members of the committee from Kerala. Other elephant experts from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra are also part of the eight-member committee.
“The notification also says that the committee will be at liberty to constitute a inspection team/sub-committee of veterinary experts for fulfilling the mandate assigned to it or may also visit the captive elephant sites for the verification of the health status of the captive elephant/s for discharging its duties,” V.K. Venkitachalam, pro-animal activist and general secretary of Heritage Animal Task Force based here said.
He further said that as per the order instating the committee, it could review the activities of state level committees like State Elephant Task Force, District Elephant Task Force and District Captive Elephant Managing Committee.
