Fadnavis backs efforts to bring elephant Madhuri back to Kolhapur from Vantara

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday initiated formal efforts to ensure the return of elephant Mahadevi aka Madhuri to Kolhapur from Vantara, animal welfare centre in Jamnagar in Gujarat - as the 36-year-old pachyderm became one of the top issues in social media.

At a meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured that the government will make all efforts to bring Mahadevi back to her home.

Mahadevi, a female elephant, was a resident of Swastishree Jinsen Bhattarak Pattacharya Mahaswami Sansthan Math, a Jain mutt, at Nandani village in Karvir in Kolhapur district.

Last week, she was shifted to Vantara’s Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT) in Jamnagar after the Supreme Court upheld an order of the Bombay High Court to provide relief to Mahadevi who tragically killed the chief priest of the Math in 2017 by repeatedly slamming him against the wall.

In fact, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA India) flagged concerns to the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) and the Supreme Court appointed High-Powered Committee (HPC) on her deteriorated health and psychological suffering.

Over the past few days there has been a series of protests in Kolhapur including a mega silent march on Sunday in Kolhapur seeking the return of the beloved elephant back to the historic town.

"Considering the public sentiment, the Nandani Math should file a review petition in the Supreme Court. The state government will also file a separate review petition and present its stance in the Supreme Court regarding bringing the elephant back,” Fadnavis told the meeting.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif, Health Minister Prakash Abitkar, along with representatives of Nandani Math and other public representatives including sitting and former MPs and MLAs, were present at the meeting.

Pawar said that the Forest Department should collect information about all the elephants that were taken out of Maharashtra.

Additional Chief Secretary of Forest Department Milind Mhaiskar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Srinivas Rao, Kolhapur District Collector Amol Yedge too were present.

Officials of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the issue would be resolved as per the guidelines and criteria of HPC and Central Zoo Authority.