Vantara Offers To Set Up Facility For Elephant Madhuri In Kolhapur Village
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had on Wednesday said Vantara will join the state government's petition in the Supreme Court to seek the return of elephant Madhuri to the monastery in Kolhapur.
The Jamnagar-based Vantara India on Thursday said it was ready to set up a facility at Nandani village in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district to provide proper care for Madhuri, an elephant belonging to a local `Muth' or monastery whose relocation led to protests.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Jinsen Bhattarak Pattacharya, chief of the Nandani Jain Muth, Vantara chief executive officer Vivaan Karani said that neither Vantara nor Anant Ambani (who conceptualised the Jamnagar-based sanctuary) wanted to hurt the sentiments of the people of Kolhapur over the issue.
"We can set up a home for Madhuri, and the animal can come back here and live with her own people here. Neither Vantara nor Anant Amban, who has been doing a good work in the rehabilitation of animals, had any intention to hurt the sentiments of people here. Whatever facility Madhuri would need, Vantara, the Muth and the Government of Maharashtra can create here, so that a proper care of the elephant can be taken,' he said.
Vantara and the Muth will submit a joint application in the court to ensure that Madhuri can come back home, he said.
Pattacharya said Vantara has agreed to create a facility for Madhuri.
"We had a satisfactory and fruitful discussion over the issue, and Vantara has agreed to set up a facility for Madhuri so that proper care can be taken," he said.
He is grateful that Anant Ambani sent the CEO of Vantara to Nandani to discuss the issue and find a solution, he added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had on Wednesday said Vantara will join the state government's petition in the Supreme Court to seek the return of elephant Madhuri to the monastery in Kolhapur.
The 36-year-old female elephant who was with the Shri Jinsen Bhattarak Pattacharya Mahaswami Jain Muth at Nandani for over three decades was relocated to Vantara's Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust last month following a court ruling.
The Bombay High Court on July 16 ordered the pachyderm to be rehabilitated at Vantara's facility after concerns raised by an NGO with the Maharashtra Forest Department and the Supreme Court-appointed High-Powered Committee on her deteriorated health and psychological suffering.
The Supreme Court on July 25 upheld the HC order.
But the relocation triggered protests, with thousands of people participating in a 'silent march' in Kolhapur demanding that Madhuri (also called Mahadevi) be brought back.
