TRIPUNITHURA: A 70-year-old tusker, Seetharaman, owned by Cochin Devaswam Board, collapsed and died on Friday morning. The incident occurred soon after the morning ‘Shiveli’ (divine procession) at Sree Poornathrayeesha Temple.
The tusker had reached a house near Thevarakavu and was tied to a tree in the compound of the house. The mahout was collecting coconut fronds for the elephant when it collapsed and died. Veterinary surgeon Dr Sunil said that on primary inspection the reason for death is suspected to be a massive cardiac arrest.
Since the lockdown was declared, there has been a severe shortage of supply of palm fronds for temple elephants, especially for tuskers owned by the Cochin Devaswam Board (CDB), and Seetharman used to roam along with its mahouts for collection of coconut fronds from nearby houses.
As per the government order issued on April 15, 2020, Rs 5 crore was granted for bringing food for captive elephants and other animals, owned by both private individuals and devaswom boards.
"As per this order, palm fronds and other items should be delivered to the tusker where it was tied,” said V K Venkitachalam, secretary, Heritage Animal Task Force. He said that instead of utilizing the amount, the CDB used to force the mahouts to take the tusker to various places from morning to evening to collect coconut fronds and plantain stem.
“Seetharaman was suffering pulmonary disease and was too weak to cover even a short distance. The road to the house on the premises of which Seetharaman died is a narrow one. It was very difficult to shift the body of the tusker from this compound to Kodanadu for autopsy,’’ Venkitachalam said.
Seetharaman was dedicated to Uthraalikaavu Bhagavathy Temple by Balaji Group in 1981. For the past one month he was serving at Sree Poornathrayeesha Temple for morning and evening ‘Shiveli’.
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