The Congress has joined wildlife and animal rights activists in opposing the bid to transport during the ongoing heatwave four juvenile elephants from Assam to Gujarat for a religious procession.
Wildlife officials in Assam, allegedly under “tremendous political pressure”, have been preparing to send the four elephants on a six-month lease for adding grandeur to Ahmedabad’s Jagannath Temple. The elephants are scheduled to take part in the Rath Yatra scheduled on July 4.
“Many wildlife activists have opposed the decision of the State government. India is facing severe heatwave at the moment. Roughly half of the country is struggling through its worst drought in six decades. These are extreme conditions for the elephants to travel,” Assam’s Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said in his letter to Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Thursday.