Controversy over organizing picnic for elephants in Chitwan

Published On: July 4, 2022 01:45 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

CHITWAN, July 4: A controversy has risen over organizing a picnic for elephants in Sauraha, a tourist destination of Chitwan. The Sauraha Tourism Promotion and Wildlife Habitat Management Committee said that only a few private and government elephants were called for the picnic on Thursday without coordination with the elephant traders in Sauraha.

United Elephant Ride Operations Cooperative, Regional Hotel Association Nepal Chitwan, Restaurant and Bar Association (REBAN) Sauraha, Nature Guide Association and small tourism business group have protested against the feast organized for the elephants.

These organizations held a joint press conference in Sauraha on Friday and said that the authorities had organized the ‘Elephant Picnic Program’ without cooperating with the organizations with the intention of misusing the budget allocated for tourism promotion.

Rishi Tiwari, chairman of the United Elephant Ride Operations Cooperative, accused the provincial government of wasting the budget on private individuals. “We have 32 elephants under our cooperative. In private, Om Rijal has six and Sapna Village has seven elephants,” he said. "Can the provincial government finish the budget only by feeding six elephants of Om Rijal and 12 elephants that the government has been rearing?" According to him, there are around 200 elephants with the government and private sector in Chitwan.

"It is good that a few elephants got to eat. However, the picnic should have included all elephants. We are just pointing out that this is a misuse of the budget,” Tiwari said. According to him, the provincial government has allocated a budget of Rs 600,000. He also demanded the local government, provincial government and the federal government to investigate the issue.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Promotion and Wildlife Habitat Management Committee, Sauraha, denied the allegations at a press conference in Sauraha on Saturday. The committee has even challenged to prove corruption. The committee had fed bananas, grams, groundnut, apple, sugarcane, watermelon and rice pudding to the elephants raised by government and businessman Om Rijal.