Kerala Will Soon Have The World's Largest Care And Cure Facility For Elephants

An existing elephant rehabilitation facility in Kerala is all set to be expanded and made into the largest of its kind anywhere in the world for jumbos.

The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre at Kottur in Thiruvananthapuram s set to become the largest care-and-cure centre for pachyderms in the world with upgraded features and facilities.

BCCL

The existing jumbo care centre at Kottur, located over 25 kms away from the capital city, is being upgraded to international standards as part of the state government's special programme for the protection and conservation of elephants.

The facility is upgraded with an aim to give the elephants that come to the rehabilitation centre a natural ecosystem just like in the forest, official sources said.

Kerala Tourism

The first phase of the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre will be commissioned in February 2021. The project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 108 crore with funding from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The centre has facilities to accommodate 50 elephants including the existing 16 elephants.

Spread over 176 hectares of forest land

Under the new initiative, there will be the construction of various reservoirs and check dams at the Neyyar Dam and also special facilities for the care of elephant calves at the centre that is spread across 176 hectares of forest land.

Kerala Tourism

"The centre will also have an elephant museum, a veterinary hospital with super speciality facilities, a study and research centre for nature lovers and students, a training centre for mahouts, an entrance plaza, an administrative office, parking for visitors, a cafeteria, cottages, a toilet block and a special elephant viewing facility," the official release said.

A post-mortem facility and a cemetery are being set up as part of the project.

Large kitchen, feeding area to be there

A large kitchen for cooking food for the elephants, a spacious separate area for feeding them and a facility for the public to view the elephants at a safe distance would be additional features, they said.

The project envisages a large convention centre, an amphitheatre, a unit for making paper from elephant dung and a system for producing biogas from waste would be set up.

Kerala Tourism

Special facilities would be provided for collection and disposal of solid wastes including non-recyclable plastics.

More than 250 will be employed every day after the completion of the project. The project is also expected to generate job opportunities for the locals and adivasis living in the nearby forest areas will be given priority in the employment at the centre.

Kottur is expected to become a major site for tourists after the completion of this project.

BCCL

"With the completion of the project, Kottur will become a major tourist destination in the Thiruvananthapuram district and will see a huge leap in the tourism sector in general as more than 3.5 lakh people, including half a lakh tourists from overseas, are expected to visit Kottoor every year. Tourism projects of the Forest Department and the Water Resources Department in the Neyyar Dam area will also be developed along with this project," it added.