Ranchi, July 11: There isn’t much legroom for Samrat, Lakhi and Ramu, and things may be a little cramped for quite some time, thanks to the dilly-dallying state forest department that is yet to set up a rescue centre.

The three elephants are still kept captive in Jharkhand capital’s Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park, though Central Zoo Authority of India — the apex body for all zoological parks in India — had announced a blanket ban on jumbos in zoos two years ago.

In 2009, it decreed that the majestic mammals should be transferred to sanctuaries, national parks or tiger reserves with immediate effect. But Birsa zoo openly violates this wildlife norm.

Zoo director P.K. Verma agreed “elephants in zoos are illegal now”, but in the same breath he said they were left with no other option.

“We are waiting for the rescue centre to come up in Jharkhand, where these animals can be transferred. The centre will keep elephants in controlled natural environs before finally letting them go free in the forest,” said Verma.

Then, he played the all-too-familiar passing-the-buck game, transferring the onus of the rescue centre on the forest department.

Notably, all the three elephants in zoo are rescued. Samrat (14) is the oldest in the zoo and was rescued from a circus. “We have raised him since he was two years old,” a range officer said.

Lakhi (9) was pulled, whimpering and in pain, from a pit in Bero couple of years ago. The elephant fallen in it after straying from the herd. Six-year-old Ramu was also similarly rescued from the nearby jungles, added the range officer.

At neighbouring Jamshedpur, however, Tata Zoological Park has already relocated its elephants successfully. Recently, a two-year-old calf, rescued from Seraikela-Kharsawan, was sent to Dalma.

Though the state forest department proposed to come up with a rescue centre over a year ago, the plan is yet to see the light of day. Neither has any blueprint been drawn up, nor have any fund been sanctioned for it,” said a senior official of the department, requesting anonymity.

The only movement has been on the part of officials, who are apparently on a merry touring spree under the guise of studying various rescue centres in the country, he alleged. “So far, officials have visited Chandigarh and adjacent states to study rescue centres but nothing materialised in terms of a plan. Now, officials are again planning to visit Kerala,” he added.