‘Meat-eating’ pigs spell terror for Sanjay Colony
NEWDELHI: Eight-year-old Payal is too scared to answer nature’s call after dark. With no toilets in her house, the child has to defecate in the open in a bylane of Sanjay Colony. However, she fears that a pig could attack her anytime.
Her fears are not unfounded. On Friday, an 20-day-old child was killed by a pig, less than a hundred yards away from Payal’s house.
Pigs attacking humans in Sanjay Colony is nothing new. “You would find many people who have been attacked and bitten by pigs at some point of time. They even bore holes in the mud walls and enter our kitchens to snatch away food,” said Rajpal Sharvan, the father of the deceased child.
Barely a year ago, Rajpal’s two sons, both aged less than two years at that time, had a narrow escape. A pig tried to enter his house digging a hole in the wall. The wall collapsed.
“I have been bitten by a pig three months ago on my left leg. I was returning home from a shop. It was dark and the pig suddenly attacked me. I had to take injections,” said Sarita, a local resident.
With garbage piled outside every house, open drains and shallow ponds, this illegal colony has become a haven for the ungulates. Monkeys too stray out of the Asola sanctuary in search of food and often attack people, locals said.
“For several years now, these pigs have been feeding on the scraps of meat that they find outside the local butcher shops. They have developed a taste for meat and now they attack. They snatch chickens, kill goat calves and bite children. Those defecating in the open after dark are particularly at risk,” said Dhara Singh, pradhan of the colony.
Locals allege that there are more than 5,000 pigs roaming in the area. A majority of these belong to four traders who let them free in the locality to feed.
“After the recent incident we had lodged a complaint with the local police. But three days have passed and they are yet to take any action against the trader who owns the pig that killed the child,” said Rajpal, father of the victim.
Chinmoy Biswal, additional DCP (south) said that police is still investigating.
Locals said repeated appeals to the civic body have yielded no results. They say the MCD officials are rarely seen.
“We have complained to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation about the unhygienic conditions — garbage, open drains and pigs. Nothing has been done till date. The officials rarely come to our colony,” said Singh.
Sources said that there were three colonies in the 6,814-acre sanctuary. After a Supreme Court order in 1996, two shifted out in 2006, but Sanjay Colony remains.
“As the colony is unauthorised and encroaches into the ridge, we cannot undertake any development work there. We just clean the garbage,” said Mahesh Tanwar, the local councillor.