Two villages deserted as leopard attack scare continues in Uttarakhand

Official sources revealed that more than 30 people were injured in leopard attacks during the last six months.
Leopard peers through the thick foliage: Photograph Courtesy | Joydeep Mondal
Leopard peers through the thick foliage: Photograph Courtesy | Joydeep Mondal

DEHRADUN: The people of two villages in the Garhwal region, who were in panic due to the continuous attacks of leopards in their areas, have left their houses one after the other. The two villages are now completely deserted.

Ruchi Chauhan, range officer of Damdeval, Garhwal forest division, said, "Four families from Bharatpur have shifted elsewhere. There is a leopard threat in the area. Every effort is being made by the department to reduce human-animal conflict.

According to information, another village Bharatpur's last family has also left the village. Even a week ago, Dugadda's Godibadi village has been completely empty. The exodus has not stopped in many villages of Pokra and Ekeshwar development blocks. The people of Bharatpur village of Majgaon gram panchayat of

Pokra development block thought it better to leave the house instead of becoming a leopard morsel. Mazgaon, the gram panchayat of Pokra block, has a partial area of Mazgaon, Dabra, Sundarai, Naulun, Bharatpur and Chaubattakhal Bazar.

Pravesh Sundriyal, a former Zila panchayat member and a native of Bharatpur village, who lives in Chaubattakhal market, says his elder brother Ramesh Chandra Sundriyal has shifted to the nearby town of Gawani with his family due to the fear of leopards.

Ramakant Sundriyal of the village has also started living by building a house on the road about 300 meters above the village. Of the two families in the village, one has moved to Delhi and the other to Dehradun.

On June 10, 2021, Godambari Devi of village Dabra died in an attack by a leopard and Virendra Kumar of Sundarai (Kolkhandi) village was also killed in another attack.

Official sources revealed that more than 30 people were injured in leopard attacks during the last six months.

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