Five women injured in leopard attacks, Dhami asks forest officials to prepare action plan

Dehradun: Five women were injured in three separate leopard attacks in the Kirtrinagar forest range of Tehri district on Thursday prompting Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to direct the forest department to prepare an effective action plan to prevent such incidents.

Expressing serious concern over the rising frequency of human-wildlife conflicts in the state, the chief minister said the department should remain on alert mode round-the-clock in the affected areas. A quick response team (QRT)of trained forest personnel should be formed and sent to the spot immediately in such cases, he added.

Wired fences should be erected on the borders of villages and forests where the big cats are reported to be on the prowl to prevent wild animals from foraying into populated areas, he said.

"It has been seen for a long time that the forest department is becoming helpless in stopping the attacks of wild animals in different parts of the state," the chief minister said.

A group of 11 women was attacked by a leopard in Naithana Choras village of Tehri district on Thursday in three of them were injured and admitted to a hospital for treatment while the rest were escorted to safety by a QRT of the department.

A 90-year-old woman was injured in a leopard attack in Dang village and a 60-year-old woman in Painula village the same day.

All these villages are located in the Kirtinagar forest range and the injured women seem to have been attacked by the same leopard, Narendranagar Divisional Forest Officer Amit Kanwar said.

Patrolling has been intensified in the Kirtinagar forest range and the villagers have been asked to be cautious to avoid a confrontation with wild animals, he said.

The leopard may be ailing and could be attacking people in self-defence, the DFO said.