Especially with the crops in the farms ripening, there has been a rise reported in the encounters taking place between the humans and the wildlife, mostly involving the Himalayan black bear, in the mountainous region of Joshimath.
locals in some rural areas of Joshimath area in Chamoli district now state that they fear for their lives and are afraid to even go out to work on their farm fields. Further feeding the fear of bear encounters among villagers in some areas, two persons were reported to have ustained injuries in two separate cases of chance encounters with a bear on Friday in the Joshimath area. In the first case, a youth of Kamad who was going to work in the farm field during the morning had a chance encounter with a bear. The chance encounter with a bear left the local youth injured following which he was taken by the villagers to the community health centre in Joshimath. After being administered preliminary treatment at the Joshimath CHC, the injured youth was referred to a higher centre for further treatment. The second incident of human-bear conflict is reported to have taken place on the same day in an area near the Parsari village. According to information from local sources, a Nepali girl was said to have gone taking her sheep along to graze when the chance encounter with a bear took place. The bear is reported to have clawed at the girl, causing injury on her head and other part of the body. The injured girl was taken to the community health centre in Joshimath where necessary medical treatment is being administered to her, state local sources.
It is pertinent to mention here that according to the locals, with various types of crops ripening and almost ready for harvest in the farms of this mountainous region, there has been a rise in incidences of bears coming out of the forest areas attracted by the ripe crops cultivated near villages and other human settlements. Chance encounters between people caught unaware of bears intent on consuming the varied food provided by ripened crops have been causing much discontent and some fear among the residents of this rural region. Already struggling against damage to cultivation being caused by factors including disaster incidences and monkeys raiding farms and villages for food, the villagers complain that despite repeated complaints being made to the State forest department, no concrete step has been taken so far to keep the loal community safe from dangerous chance encounters with the bear. Instead of taking concrete measures and other necessary steps for mitigating the continuing human-wildlife conflict in the region, the forest department officials prefer to limit their efforts to providing some monetary compensation to the human involved in the conflict with wildlife, lament the villagers.