Kottayam: The Sabarimala pilgrimage has severely damaged the environment and posed a threat to the wildlife due to the accumulation of plastic waste in the forests. The carcass of a 30-year-old cow elephant was found at Cheriyanavattom, near Sabarimala, on Saturday. In the post-mortem held on Sunday, the lesions of the animal contained high presence of plastic materials. Forest department sources said that the wild elephants were consuming plastic materials left behind by the pilgrims on the 28-km forest path from Kalaketty to Cheriyanavattom on the way to Sabarimala.
Plastic waste on Sabari roads
Dr Abdul Sathaf, assistant forest veterinary officer who conducted the post-mortem, told DC that the animal died due to intestinal obstruction. Mr P. Johnson, beat forest officer in charge of the Sannidhanam forest station, told DC that the sewage plant of the Travancore Dewaswom Board installed at Cheriyanavattom was not properly covered. Hence wild elephants used to consume plastic materials from the plant. According to Mr Praphul S. Nair, district coordinator of ‘Guardians of Nature’ the forest path to Sabarimala is inundated with the plastic waste endangering wild animals.
