ludhiana has 66 per cent of elephants in Punjab but.....

City not kind to its elephants
Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 27
The city is home to maximum elephants in the state, but it treats the gentle giants rather badly. Of the total 18 elephants in Punjab, as many as 12 are in the city alone and six in Chhatt Bir Zoo. All of these have been held captive by their masters, who are slum dwellers and use the animals as a source of livelihood.

These are the revelations of a census of elephants in the state carried out under Project Tiger of the Union Government.

The census further revealed that the elephants are housed in a slum under a flyover in Ludhiana. Hygiene is poor and the conditions unsuitable for housing the elephants.

Following the startling census report on the condition of the elephants, the state government, on the directions of the Centre, has constituted a committee for setting guidelines for the care and maintenance of captive animals in the state.

The Chief Wildlife Warden of Punjab, RK Luna, has appointed Gurmeet Singh, Deputy Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab, Dr Sandeep K Jain, member of the Punjab State Board for Wildlife, Divisional Forest Officer, Ludhiana, Vishal Chauhan, and Dr Nirmaljit Singh of Chhatt Bir Zoo, members of the committee.

The report had indicated that municipal taps were being used for water needs of the animals and no access to perennial source of flowing water for bathing was available for them. They maintained water was needed to maintain the body temperature and proper physiological functioning of the animals.

The elephants are made to walk on tarred roads even as their feet are sensitive to hard surfaces and they are made to walk 20-60 km a day on road.

Their masters use them for marriage purposes, make them wander in rural areas for alms and participate in religious functions and advertisement campaigns. They work in peak summer months in soaring temperature of 46 degree Celsius and for 12 hours a day without water, food and shade.

Several NGOs of the city had already given a representation to the state government that they were ready to adopt the animals by erecting shelters for them. It is yet to yield any result.

(courtesy--The Tribune, Ludhiana, jan 27, 2010)