After the death of two elderly women in chance encounter with wild boar on July 7 in Takulsarri village under Beerokhal block in Pauri district the local villagers are reportedly living in fear of chance encounter with wild animals.
Many people lost their lives in the human-leopard conflict while chance encounters with bears and elephants are not uncommon in the area either. Now, the latest incident involving wild boar resulting in two casualties has further deepened their scare. It is learnt that some families are migrating to safer places as they have ceased having confidence in the forest department protecting them from human-wildlife conflict.
The victims of the encounter with wild boar- Savitri Devi aged 63 years and Kalpeshwari Devi aged 65 years were reportedly attacked by wild boar when they were collecting fodder and fuel wood near the agriculture fields on the evening of July 7. Both died on the spot. They were rushed to the Community Hospital at Beerokhal by the villagers where the doctors declared them brought dead.
The post-mortem was conducted in the Government-run Community Hospital after which the bodies were handed over to the family members. The forest department gave `10,000 to the next of kin of both the families by way of what is described as ‘immediate relief’.
Sub division officer of Thalisain forest division Subodh Kala told The Pioneer that Rs three lakh will be given to the family of the victims.
The people, are, however, seething with anger over the forest department not firming up a concrete, fool-proof plan to mitigate the human-wildlife conflict.
It is learnt that families from the Kota village of Yamkeshwar block in Pauri district are migrating fearing human-leopard conflict incidents. This village Kota is located in the buffer zone of Rajaji Tiger Reserve. A leopard mauled to death a minor boy on the night of June 12 when he was sleeping on the terrace of the house they were living in. The villagers said that the director of the tiger reserve had merely completed formality of sending a proposal to chief wild life warden to declare the leopard as man eater. Nothing has happened more than a fortnight later. However, with things over the leopard being declared a man- eater hanging in balance, the family of the victim decided to migrate.