We’ve been left to be killed by tigers, complain villagers
BAREILLY: A day after the partly eaten body of a woman was found inside the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and the victim was confirmed to have died in a tiger attack, forest officials started an ‘awareness campaign’ in the areas around the reserve.
The campaign entails asking people to stay away from the PTR forest, which remains unfenced.
With tiger attack being confirmed as the cause of death in the post-mortem report, the death toll of big cat victims in Pilibhit this year has gone up to 17 — the highest in a decade. Of the total toll, two deaths occurred this week. Sources said the campaign was launched to lay off some heat from back-to-back deaths.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) PTR Adarsh Kumar said, “Six teams of PTR visited nearby villages and organised awareness camps. The people were provided pamphlets with information about tigers and ways to prevent a big cat attack.”
Forest officials said they had decided to cover at least 12 villages located near PTR every day.
“It has been observed that the chances of a tiger entering human habitat increases during winters. We plan to alert the people about tiger movement in advance,” Kumar said.
According to official data, 256 villages are located within a 500m distance of the boundary of the reserve. Residents of these villages gather firewood, medicinal plants and wild fruits from the forest. “It is next to impossible to prevent villagers from entering the forest without providing alternate means to avail of these things,” said Hemraj Verma, former MLA from Pilibhit.
Meanwhile, villagers complain of administrative and government apathy. “We were promised jobs and monetary compensation when the forest was declared a reserve in 2014. But the government has not done anything. We have been left to suffer and be killed by tigers,” lamented Sadiq Khan, a panchayat member of Daga village.