The longest night: Alwar villagers live in fear of ‘maneater’ leopard
STEALTHY PREDATOR Since February 5, the spotted cat is believed to have killed four villagers
ALWAR: The leopard has a rule, says Chhotelal Meena, sitting on his haunches beside a fire in his village house in Rajasthan’s Alwar district.
“If you snatch its kill, it comes back to avenge it. This one will come back and kill one more, I tell you,” adds the 40-year-old farmer, his eyes, yellowed by years of exposure to wood smoke, reflecting his conviction in the rustic wisdom he just pronounced.
Chhotelal’s argument has a reason. A leopard is suspected to have killed his father, 66-yearold Ram Kumar, on February 12 when the senior Meena went out to relive himself outside his home in Sili Baodi village.
The house, sitting on the edge of the village, is less than a kilometre from the Sariska Tiger Reserve, which has 14 tigers and more than 100 leopards.
But the big cat could on prey on its kill as villagers were alarmed by sounds of the man being brought down. The leopard fled when it saw humans.
“One of us went to see where the sound had come from and on seeing the leopard on top of my uncle, he shouted. When others came running, the leopard fled,” says Chhotelal’s cousin Ramavtar. “But it came back fifteen minutes later. I saw it licking blood from the same spot. The cat has tasted human blood.”
Since February 5, the leopard is believed to have killed four people in the village including Chhotelal’s father.
Since then people in about 40 villages in the area are living in a state of panic, shutting themselves up in their homes after sunset, the men taking turns to stand on guard throughout the nights. The forest department has caught four leopards since then, one of them an old big cat which officials said was responsible for the human kills.
But the panic-stricken villagers are not convinced. Several cattle attacked and injured recently are also believed to be by the same leopard. People in this Rajasthan village say this is the first time they are facing a “man-eater” leopard though they are no strangers to animals straying out of Sariska.
Some say there are more than one panther killing people, while one man, who claims to have seen the animal, says it is “as long as a motorcycle” and might as well be a tiger.
Earlier in September and October, a leopard had killed two people in two other villages.
Balaji Kari, deputy field director of Sariska, says the last leopard trapped was the one attacking humans. “We have consistently tracked the animal, collected pugmarks and other case samples. We are certain that this leopard is the one behind killings. It is an old animal,...and must have been unable to hunt for itself.
“It must have veered towards the villages and after killing the first victim, felt that humans were easy prey,” he says.
Around midnight, Chhotelal, armed with a stick and a torch, makes a round of the periphery of his house.
When the night falls, the village streets become deserted and kids start fighting among themselves over who will sleep in the middle. People who have gated houses say that in another fifteen days summer will be here and sleeping inside will become unbearable.
There are no toilets in the houses and people make it a point to relieve themselves before dusk ever since the leopard struck. The kids are made to do it in corners of the room.
Men take turns to sleep for few hours and then to guard the night. Circled around the fire in the evening, smoking hookah and chillum, they discuss the events of the day.
As the night thickens, the gathering around the fire thins. At 12:30, it’s only Chhotelal who is awake, when power goes off. He gets up and lights a gas lamp.
As hours pass, the night becomes quieter, the barking of dogs grows clearer. A few houses away someone flashes his torch around from the roof of his house. “This hour is the most dangerous. The leopard keeps waiting in the bushes for hours, waiting for men to fall silent and get drowsy,” he adds.
Chhotelal makes another chillum, picks an ember with his hand and places it on the pipe. As he takes a drag, he freezes. Suddenly, there is clanking of chains as the three buffaloes in his courtyard stand up.
He flashes the torch at them and their wide-open eyes stare back at him. The buffaloes stand dead at their places. He quickly wakes up the two men sleeping on a cot beside him.
They spring into action. Picking up their sticks and torches they run in opposite directions, flashing torches and banging their sticks on the ground. The men stay put for a few minutes, before coming back. By 5 the village has come alive with people starting their day. Chhotelal goes over to the neighbour to have tea, but not before stopping on the way to answer nature’s call. He had been holding it since last evening. JODHPUR:The National Green Tribunal has directed the central and Rajasthan state pollution control boards to submit a detailed status report before April 11 on water pollution, ground water quality and soil testing in the industrial belt in Barmer.
Polluted water released from the textile industries in Bithuja, Jasol and Balotra villages into Luni River and nearby areas has come up as serious problem.
Earlier the National Green Tribunal ( NGT) issued a number of directives to check pollution following a plea filed by environment activist Digvijay Singh Jasol.
After the non compliance of the green tribunal’s directives, Jasoi filed a contempt petition against the Barmer district collector and officials of pollution control boards.
A bench headed by NGT chief justice Swatanter Kumar while hearing the petition, expressed annoyance over the failure to check the pollution.
The counsel for Barmer district collector and industries body sought time to submit a reply to the contempt petition following which the bench warned that if the reply is not filed within two weeks, a penalty of Rs. 50,000 would be imposed.
Jasol in his petition said the central and state pollution boards were earlier directed to carry out a detailed examination of the water samples from polluted water released into the common effluent treatment plants (CEPT) from the three industrial clusters and treated water being released from outlet.
The green tribunal also directed the boards to submit a joint inspection report on pollution in ground water and soil testing in the region.
The industrial clusters in Balotra, Jasol and bithuja, where more than 700 textile units engaged in printing and dying of cloths, fall within a radius of 10 km. The units release polluted water that is meant to be treated.