An animal protection body has urged the External Affairs Ministry to expedite the process of rescuing a wild elephant which got washed away in the Brahmaputra river into neighbouring Bangladesh.
Humane Society International-India has written a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to expedite the permissions required by the rescue team which has been formed by the Environment Ministry.
The body said the Environment Ministry has formed a four-member rescue team and has issued directions to the state Forest departments of Assam and Meghalaya to coordinate rescue efforts.
"We have also learnt that the Environment Ministry has been in contact with its Bangladeshi counterparts. It has received consent from the Bangladeshi Government for the rescue team to travel to Bangladesh and undertake rescue efforts.
"However, we are given to understand that the request for permissions for the team's travel and action plans are pending approval with the Ministry of External Affairs. Hence, we sincerely request you, as the Minister of External Affairs, to expedite the permissions required by the rescue team for this case," HSI India said in the letter.
It said that the elephant has reportedly become feeble due to the lack of food and its rescue at the earliest is "necessary" to prevent further distress to her as well as the locals living in the region.
"We are confident that your involvement will help bring this stranded elephant safely back to India. We look forward to your swift action in the matter," the body wrote in the letter.
According to reports, the elephant has reached a sandbar in Bangladesh's Kurigram district.
Kurigram is the nearest district in Bangladesh from Dhubri in Assam.
Till last week, information from Bangladesh said, the elephant was found on sandbars in Chikajani union in Jamalpur district, after the female elephant swam through Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh) from Kurigram's Chilmari sub-divisional area, reports said.
