CONSUMER RIGHTS
Elephant rides can be risky

The apex consumer court has upheld a petitioner’s claim for compensation for injuries suffered after being thrown off an elephant. Earlier, the Karnataka consumer disputes forum had rejected his plea, Pushpa Girimaji reports on the unusual case

In happier times, the tusker might well have indulged the mahout, picked him up gently and swung him playfully on its majestic trunk. But this was certainly not a happy occasion nor was the pachyderm, from all accounts, in a mood to entertain its trainer. In a fit of sudden temper, the elephant went on the rampage, attacked another elephant and crushed to death its keeper.

Going by the video clips of the incident, the mahout had no chance of survival. In the panic that ensued, 24 people were injured. I am referring to the incident that happened at Chettuva, near Thrissur, Kerala, on April 8. As per reports, about a dozen tuskers were on parade at an annual festival there when the incident occurred. The reason for the animal’s sudden anger is not very clear — some said it was sparked off by a miscreant throwing stones at the elephant.

Whatever may be the cause, the incident should certainly make us debate over the safety of using elephants in a variety of festivals and functions around the country and the risk that they pose to citizens-consumers. Some years ago, the apex consumer court ordered compensation to a doctor who became an invalid after being thrown off an elephant at the Dasehra festival in Mysore in Karnataka.

Dr Mayi Gowda went on a joyride on elephant Saraswati, along with his three children and two nephews. For some reason, the elephant ran amok , resulting in the children falling down from the cradle fixed on the elephant’s back and suffering injuries. But worse, the elephant picked up Dr Gowda, a practicing doctor, from its back and threw him with such abandon that he flew and fell on an electric pole, breaking his ribs. That was not all. The head injuries caused from the fall resulted in permanent disability — he lost his eyesight and could no more continue with his professional practice.

While the State Consumer Disputes Redresal Comission , Karnataka, dismissed Dr Gowda’s complaint seeking compensation from the government of Karnataka and the Forest Department, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission upheld the consumer’s view that there was negligence on the part of the authorities, resulting in his injury.

It’s not just in Mysore that elephants are pressed into service. They are used around the country and for a variety of purposes. In temples, they are used in religious ceremonies and functions. Kerala of course leads in this. In jungle resorts , game sanctuaries, elephants are used to carry people around the forest. In Rajasthan, the elephant festival includes elephant races and elephant polo, playing Holi sitting on elephants and ‘tug of war between elephants and human beings. At several ‘exhibitions’and zoos, elephant rides are offered to visitors. Elephants are even rented for ceremonial functions and for marriages.

One shudders at the thought of the kind of cruelty that is inflicted on the animals at the time of taming and training them and even later, in keeping them in chains and forcing them to do things that they are not meant to.
Given the fact that elephants in such circumstances are brought into environments that are alien to them, it is no wonder that they at times go berserk. The bright lights, the loud music, the crowds and their noise, the mobile phones, the blaring of automobile horns, the din of road traffic — they are all enough to drive an animal insane. Add to that, people and children who derive vicarious pleasure out of throwing stones at the animals! Is it any surprise that elephants go berserk?

In recent times, there have been several reports of elephants loosing their cool. In February this year, an elephant reportedly ran amok in Koyilandy town in Kerala. After several hours, it was brought under control through tranquilisers. During the same month, at an elephant polo tournament in Sri Lanka, an elephant suddenly got angry , threw off its mahout and a rider and then crushed a mini bus with its head. In May last year, at Tripunithura in Kerala, an elephant ran amok and was finally brought under control after a nine-hour drama full of tension. In 2003, a 23-year old pachyderm, Thayal Nayaki, spread terror in a crowded temple in Kerala when it suddenly lifted and threw away the 50-year old Mahout sitting on its back. Should we take this kind of risk?

Isn’t the use of these animals, particularly at functions and programmes where large crowds gather, a safety hazard? Isn’t it time we reconsidered the use of elephants in public places? Shouldn’t we let the pachyderms live in peace in their natural habitat? It’s time we seriously pondered over these questions.

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