The recent incident of man-beast conflict in Chidiyapur forest range of Haridwar forest division in which a 22-year old woman was injured in a leopard attack has triggered the need to address the problem of relocation of Gurjars who abound in this region for the past many years. The priority is being given to relocation of Gurjars from protected areas but there is no such plan for forest ranges like Shyampur and Chidiyapur ranges.
The Rajaji National Park and Rajaji Tiger Reserve has been encroached upon by the shepherds and Gurjars for the past many years and so is the Haridwar Forest Division. The incidents of man- beast conflict are on the rise over the past few months. In most of the incidents, villagers lose their lives and on some occasions, the wild animals succumb to their attacks made in defence.
On Monday, Sakura, a Gurjar girl saved her sister Beera from the attack by a leopard which had left her injured, while she was sleeping along with her 15 days old infant in her shack. The beast attacked her from behind. She attacked the two and a half year old leopard in self-defence with a stick. later, it was killed as all the members of the family attacked the big cat which had hidden itself behind a wooden box.
On receiving the information, the forest department team reached the house in Chidiyapur forest range of Haridwar forest division and took the leopard’s body in their custody. later, the carcass was set to flames.
This valorous tale of Sakura may not be with every villager who is facing the wrath of these wild animals. A few incidents of leopards mauling the farmers, killing stray and pet dogs in the past couple of months have surfaced. Three months ago, a leopard had attacked a village youth, Sukhvinder from Banda Road near Solani river, leaving him seriously injured. Scare gripped the village following the incident. Roshandeen, the head of Sakura’s family, told The Pioneer that the leopard had attacked their pet animals earlier too.
When asked for comment, wildlife expert Bivash Pandav said, “The reason why the wild animals are straying into the residential colonies is that their habitat is shrinking. The human population is touching the forest boundaries and Gurjar communities are still residing in many forest ranges like Gohari under RTR and Shyampur under Haridwar forest division. The forest authorities must expedite the process of relocation of these human settlements. Otherwise the man beast conflict would continue.”
DFO of Haridwar Forest Division H K Singh said “As of now, there is no plan to relocate the Gujjars in the Chidiyapur forest division. Availability of space and money are the major constraints to redress the problem. The norms of relocation are old which need to be made contemporary. The government’s priority is to relocate the Gujjars from protected areas first and then other non-protected areas of forest division.”