Assam plans to send 4 elephants by train to Gujarat, activists see red

June 21, 2019 14:22

Four elephants are to be moved by train from Assam's Tinsukia town on the east to Ahmedabad in the west, a distance of 3100 km, for a temple ritual.

'No date is set for their departure yet, but they are expected to reach Ahmedabad before 4 July to participate in the annual Rath Yatra (chariot procession) at the Jagannath temple. The train journey is expected to take three to four days,' reports Geeta Pandey in bbc.com.

'Activists and conservationists say the plan to move the elephants is "cruel and completely inhuman", especially since temperatures are more than 40C (104F) in many places along the northern Indian route these elephants are expected to take,' she writes, quoting a wildlife conservationist as saying, "The wagon in which the elephants will be transported is not climate-controlled. It will be hitched to a passenger train which will be travelling at a speed of 100km/h (62mph), so can you imagine the plight of the animals?"

According to the rules, no elephant can be made to walk for more than 30km (18 miles) at a stretch or transported for more than six hours in one go, Geeta Pandey reports, here.

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