Date:31/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/01/31/stories/2005013100581303.htm

Back Thiruvananthapuram Rlys' plea to elephant owners

Our Bureau

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Divisional Manager of the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division has appealed to elephant owners as well as mahouts not to walk the pachyderms along railway tracks.

An official spokesman said here that the request was being made in view of the fact that the annual temple festival season had commenced in the State, which will go on for months together. Some of these temples are located alongside roads that run parallel to the rail tracks. Mahouts have been seen walking the animals along the rail tracks, which will badly affect safe operation of trains.

The request comes in the backdrop of an incident in which the Railway Magistrate in Kollam imposed a fine of Rs 1,500 on a mahout who was seen walking his elephant along the railway track at Perumon in Kollam.