Twelve days have passed since a leopard mauled to death a ten-year-old boy, Abhisekh, in the Kota village of Bichala Dhangu area under Yamkeshwar block in the Pauri district and yet, the beast is yet to be declared a man-eater by the Chief Wildlife Warden. The village Kota adjoins Rajaji Tiger Reserve.
Director Rajaji Tiger Reserve Neena Grewal said that the request to declare the leopard as man- eater had been sent to the chief wild life warden on June 15. “We are yet to receive the order. It is difficult to fix a cage in the incident area because of the height of the forest,” she said.
It is pertinent to mention that the Yamkeshwar has forest on both sides. On one side, it has the reserve forest of lansdowne division and, on other, it has Rajaji Tiger Reserve. The victim’s family has been living under the shadow of terror since the night of June 12 on which the boy was killed. The leopard took the boy out when he was sleeping with his family members.
Sunita Devi, the mother of the victim, worried about the safety of her three other children, migrated to Shayampur. Her husband Meharwan Singh is in Mumbai on job.
Gram Pradhan Kota village alleged that the administration is insensitive. “The day is not far when the villagers will be forced to leave the village and migrate other places,” he said.
Five incidents of leopards killing villagers have happened in the lansdowne forest division area from November 16, 2015 to June 8 2016. On the laldhang range of the division, a four- year -old Gujjar child was killed in Amal forest on November 16 2015.
He was followed by eight- year-old Santoshi in village Gadhakot on November 23 2015. Both the victims were from Yamkeshwar block. Thereafter, a five-year-old child was killed in Oddal village under Jaharikhal block on February 28 2016 followed by four-year- old child being mauled to death in Jaletha village on March 4. An elderly woman Shayama Devi was killed by leopard in village Maruwa under Duggada block on June 8 in the lansdowne forest division.