By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The elephant camp at Kappukadu in Kottoor here is poised to become the country’s first rehabilitation centre for elephants with international standards. The upgrading project worth `108 crore funded by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board will be implemented in two phases. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the work of the first phase of the project at Kottoor at 4 pm on Sunday. The centre will come up in an area of 176 hectares and the first phase would cost `71.9 crore. There will be 50 large enclosures designed akin to the natural habitat of the elephants in forest. The enclosures are protected by steel fencing and steel pillars. Major components of the project are an elephant museum, veterinary hospital with super speciality facility, study and research centre, training centre for mahouts, entrance plaza, administrative office, parking facility for visitors, cafeteria, cottages, toilet block, convention centre and an amphitheatre. Check-dams would be built in the Neyyar dam as part of the project. Special centres for the upkeep of elephant calves, a kitchen to prepare food for the elephants, a feeding room for the animals, facility for the visitors to view the elephants from a safe distance are the other highlights. There would be designated areas for performing postmortem and funeral of elephants, including domestic elephants. There would be 40 residential quarters of the mahouts and another dormitory which can accommodate 40 persons. Scientific waste management facility will be implemented at the centre. A paper manufacturing unit will also be set up to effectively make use of the estimated three tonnes of elephant dung. A biogas plant, plastic recyling facility and solid waste management facility are other features of the elephant rehab centre. The Kerala State Housing Board is entrusted with the construction works. The project expected to be completed in 2012 would be a big boost to the state’s tourism sector. Forest Minister K Raju will preside over the inaugural function. It will be attended by Deputy Speaker V Sasi, ministers Thomas Isaac, Kadakampally Surendran and K Krishnankutty, MPs Adoor Prakash and Shashi Tharoor, MLAs C K Hareendran, I B Satheesh, C Divakaran, D K Murali, V Joy, B Sathyan, V S Sivakumar, O Rajagopal, K Ansalan, M Vincent, district panchayat president VK Madhu, Head of Forest Force P K Kesavan and chief wildlife warden Surendrakumar. Proposed facilities at centre Special centres for the upkeep of elephant calves, a kitchen to prepare food for the elephants, a feeding room for the animals, facility for the visitors to view the elephants from a safe distance are some of the features.

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