Leopard attacks: Forest dept calls for talks over clearing thick patch of forest in tea gardens

SOUMITRA NANDI | MP | 27 Jan 2019 | Kolkata: Concerned over the deaths of three children in leopard attacks at the tea gardens of Alipurduar in December and January, the state Forest department has urged the district administration to take up the matter with the tea garden owners and clear the thick patch of forest grown in a number of tea gardens.

"All the tea gardens that have witnessed leopard attacks in recent times belong to Duncan Group under Madarihat block. The tea gardens are lying closed for more than five years. Dense forest has developed making them an ideal breeding ground for the big cats. A number of villages are located at the border of these tea gardens," a senior official of the state Forest department said.

It is learnt that state Forest minister Binay Krishna Barman has asked the District Forest Officer (DFO) to urge the District Magistrate for making arrangements to clear the thick forest cover.

"The district magistrates can use funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for taking up such work in co-ordination with the tea garden owners," the official added.

As a short term measure, the Forest department has made teams comprising forest guards and local youths for keeping surveillance, particularly in the tea gardens of Ramjhora, Dhumchipara and Gargonda, which have witnessed three fatal leopard attacks. The area as per satellite map created by the state Forest department is spread across an area of 65.88 sq km.

"We have also made arrangements to barricade the area when primary school children go to their schools in the morning and when they return. We are also bursting sound crackers from time to time to create a sense of fear among the big cats,"

Barman said.

It may be mentioned that the children from the villages have a tendency to sneak into the tea gardens for collecting wild flowers and in the process fall prey to such attacks.

The first death due was reported on December 12 at Dhumchipara tea garden when a four-year-old was mauled to death by an adult leopard.

The second was on December 23 at Ramjhora when a 12-year-old was killed, while the latest was on January 16 at Gargonda tea estate when a girl child was dragged away from the lap of her mother and her body was later found in to pieces some distance away from his home.

It is estimated that more than 4,000 leopards inhabit the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar that is dotted with 283 tea gardens and large swathes of forest, national parks, wild life sanctuaries and tiger reserve.