On Engineer's Day, Bureaucrat's Tweet Calling Elephants "Ancient India's Temple Builders" Goes Viral

Every year on September 15, India observes Engineer's Day to honour Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Vishveshwaraya's accomplishments and to honour the nation's engineers. The day is commemorated to honour the outstanding work done by engineers and to motivate them to improve and innovate.

In the present day scenario, when social media users don't miss the chance to make any event a meme fest, with hilarious jokes and memes, an interesting tweet by a bureaucrat is going viral. 

On Engineer's Day, Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, referred to elephants as the civil engineers of the forests by noting that their footfalls create roadways in the bush.

"Do you know #elephants are civil engineers of #forests, they build roads with their footsteps. They built rivers while walking in them. They are #farmers who help in regeneration and help in checking soil erosion," he tweeted.

Elephants were also used in ancient temple construction to transport large stones and other construction supplies.

"In ancient India they were temple builders," he added.

According to World Wildlife Fund, "Elephants are important ecosystem engineers. They make pathways in dense forested habitat that allow passage for other animals. An elephant footprint can also enable a micro-ecosystem that, when filled with water, can provide a home for tadpoles and other organisms."

In the dense forests, elephants are the ecosystem's engineers. One of the last remaining megaherbivores, forest elephants destroy shrubs, topple trees, and sculpt routes and clearings as they consume over 100 different kinds of fruits.

They also act as forest bulldozers and seed dispersers. Their ecological influence has a substantial impact on forest carbon levels and tree populations, which has ramifications for climate and conservation strategies.