The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which owns the elephant, is yet to take the famished animal to a safe and dry spot.Alappuzha: Dry ground seems to be afar for Mulakkal Ramachandran, the elephant which was rescued from a swamp in a 15-hour operation, at Thuravoor, near here, on Tuesday.
The elephant, in musth, had slipped out of the truck carrying it before running amok. It landed in the swamp but not before demolishing a wall and a portion of a house. The elephant, after coming out of the swamp, had turned violent yet again and had to be tranquilized.
But, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which owns the elephant, is yet to take the famished animal to a safe and dry spot.
The elephant was tethered to a tree and residents were wary of it running amok again. People said it was placing its legs in a bog and the tree to which it was tethered was too weak. Questions are being raised as to how the TDB let the animal out for a temple festival in Thrikkakara when it was in musth.
The way in which the rescue operation was carried out was also being criticised by many as there was no equipment or scientific method to it. It was dragged out of the marsh around 8 pm by people, mahouts, the police and elephant squad members. Sources said efforts to commandeer a crane failed as there was no road access.
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