By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 16 Jan: In the dead of winter, a police patrol is making an announcement in and around Canal Road area of Dehradun asking the residents not to unnecessarily venture out during nights and take care of children.
The police has started regular patrolling in Canal Road, Kala Gaon, Talla Nagal and other nearby areas in the foothills of Mussoorie following attacks by leopards during the past one fortnight. One child was killed and another injured in these attacks.
After the concern expressed by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, both police and forest department are on alert mode in these areas. Chief Wildlife Warden Samir Sinha said the cages have also been installed at various areas to capture leopards. “There are many incidents in the state where leopard-animal conflicts have been reported. In all those places including Dehradun, cages have been installed,” said Sinha after a meeting of the forest department.
But leopards continue to let loose a reign of terror in these areas. Some schools in and around Sahstradhara Road have also been closed as a precautionary step.
But people are frightened. Kuldip Chowdhary said when two days ago he was closing his shop Sunday night at Nagalhat Nala area, he heard the shouts of some boys who have seen a leopard in the area. But by the time he looked at the place from where the noise came, the leopard had run away into the nearby jungles.
“It is very scary during nights in our Nagalhat Nala area these days. We are keeping our children mostly indoor. Yesterday’s attack on a child in the Canal Road area was very frightening,” said Chowdhary, who runs a grocery shop.
Hukam Singh Rawat, a cook in a restaurant at Talla Nagal, area also narrated a similar incident saying he has also seen a leopard prowling in the area. Samir Khan showed a video of the Kala Gaon area where three leopards are crossing the road. “Actually there are three leopards in our area. You never know when you are attacked especially during evenings and nights,” said Khan.
Expressing concern over the leopard attacks in Dehradun and other parts of Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday called for preparing an action plan to stop human-animal conflicts and also taking other steps to stop such incidents. “In all those places where man-animal conflicts are taking place, the forest department should remain in alert mode,” the Chief Minister said.
He asked the forest department to put forward a proposal for increasing the compensation to Rs 6 lakh from Rs 4 lakh in case of death of a person in the mananimal conflicts. In the last meeting of the state wildlife board last year, the Chief Minister had called for increasing the compensation amount to Rs 6 lakh. He had asked the forest department to put forward a proposal in this regard before the state cabinet.
Forest dept seeks action on fake video
By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 16 Jan: The forest department has asked the Uttarakhand police to take action against all those people who are sending fake videos of leopards to create fear. DFO Mussoorie Vaibhav Kumar Singh has asked SSP Dehradun Ajai Singh to register a case under IT Act and IPC against the culprits in this regard. A fake video has gone viral where a leopard is being seen attacking some persons, an incident which actually happened in some other state.
