Baby elephant, its mother hurt after falling into pit at Patanjali construction site in Assam
Assam Forest Minister PR Brahma instructed officials to lodge a First Information Report against the firm because of the incident.
An elephant calf, its mother and another male from their herd were injured in Assam’s Sonitpur district on Wednesday after they fell into a trench at the Patanjali Mega Herbal and Food Park construction site. The calf had broken free of the others and gone running towards the construction site, forest officials told PTI, and was soon followed by the other two elephants.
The male elephant managed to get out with relative ease, and the calf was rescued, but its mother remains stuck in the pit. The calf has been sent to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation at the Kaziranga National Park. The mother is in critical condition, officials said, and likely has a fracture in one of her rear legs. She is being tended to by veterinarians, who have brought in supplies and set up floodlights to treat her through the nights.
The herd passes through the area frequently, forest department officials told The Telegraph. However, they usually keep to a corridor at some distance from the site, and appeared to have strayed into the premises on Tuesday morning said Jasim Ahmed, assistant conservator of forests, West Sonitpur. Following the incident, Assam Forest Minister PR Brahma instructed his department’s officials to lodge a First Information Report against the firm because of the incident, The Indian Express reported.
The Patanjali park’s coordinator, Uday Goswami, said guards had been stationed to keep elephants away, but they had appeared suddenly. He added that the park was providing logistical support for the injured elephant’s care. The park is located in Ghoramari and was inaugurated by Assam’s first Bharatiya Janata Party Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal along with yoga guru Ramdev.