DEHRADUN: In view of the growing threat of tigers in Uttarakhand’s Pauri district, the administration has declared a holiday for schools and imposed night curfew in 24 affected villages. Following the tiger attack, District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan issued orders in this regard late on Sunday night. In the last three days, the tiger has killed three people, including two elderly people, in this area.
On Sunday, the movement of a tiger under the supervision of a drone in the surrounding area in Padiyarpani village has also been caught on camera. The Pauri Garhwal district administration has imposed curfew from 7 pm to 6 am in dozens of villages of Rikhnikhal and Dhumakot tehsils in view of the tiger menace in the district. The administration has taken this step after three people were killed in separate tiger attacks in the last 72 hours.
The forest department has also swung into action and has set up cages at possible locations along with finding the invading tigers by the drone-survey. Speaking tothis newspaper, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF), Ranjan Mishra, told this correspondent, “70 per cent of the Corbett Tiger Reserve falls in Pauri Garhwal district and this district in the state has the highest number of cases of human-wildlife conflict. Recent killings by a tiger cannot be classified as man-eating killings, it is an accidental encounter”.
Speaking about forest fires, APCCF Mishra said, “Cases of tiger and leopard attacks during forest fires undoubtedly increase as wildlife is driven out due to fires, which not only tigers or leopards but also other wildlife come out of the forest. This increases the likelihood of human-wildlife conflict with some older tigers”.