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Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

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Other States - Maharashtra

State Government facing wrath over leopard attacks

By Meena Menon

MUMBAI, JUNE 28 . With eight deaths occurring this month from leopard attacks in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli, the Maharashtra Government and the Forest department are stepping up efforts to stem the tide of criticism from a shocked city.

Two persons have been killed since overnight by leopards, taking the toll to 14 since January this year, according to the additional Chief Secretary, Forests, Ashok Khot. Among those killed in June, include a former Supreme Court lawyer, Kuldeep Singh, who was out in the forest on a jog early morning, two four-year-old girls and an 80-year-old man. The deaths have taken place mostly on the periphery of the densely forested 103 sq. km park.

Mr. Khot told The Hindu that encroachments had created a crisis. Earlier, there were 61,000 families living in the park, and after a series of litigation, about 48,000 families were evicted. However, the remaining families were allotted land outside the park, but were refusing to move.

He denied that the prey-base in the park was reducing. However, about 500 domestic pigs will be released into the park tomorrow as a measure to tempt the leopards, a move that has invited the ire of environmental activists.

Mr. Khot said that families often slept in the open in the forest and that was inviting trouble. "People are practising yoga in the park, and children are allowed to roam freely at night."

A leopard was trapped today in a residential colony near the park.

Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group said after a High Court case in 1995, challenging the encroachments, an order was passed in May 1997 to evict illegal residents.

The remaining 12, 000 families were yet to be rehabilitated. "Earlier, the encroachments were in a continuous stretch but what happened is during the demolition process, those who were "protected" by politicians were not evicted, so there was a distribution of small pockets in the park," Mr. Goenka said.

"Leopards do not mind proximity to human beings and when they go hunting for dogs in the evening, these accidental deaths take place. The attacks have gone up from the year 2002 — and since then, there are 15-20 deaths every year. Before that, there used to be one or two incidents a year," he said.

Mr. Khot said the Government was considering a variety of options to deal with the problem. One was constructing a solar fence around the park, which would give mild shocks to animals, or construct a wall around the periphery of the park. The wall was under construction some years ago but it was stopped due to court cases.

He said people had to take precautions like not sleeping in the open or wandering around the houses after night. Also, the park had to be cleared of the 12,000 families.

Mr. Goenka said the people were issued allotment letters for plots, but they were not going because they were promised free housing by the "so-called "civil rights activists and politicians." The wall is just one more hurdle for the leopard, not the only solution.

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State Government facing wrath over leopard attacks