Nuapada: Haladi, a village known for its boisterous spiritual activities, Tuesday wore a deserted look even after the start of Panchuka, the five auspicious days of the holy Kartik month.
The reason is the villagers are yet to believe that a man-eater leopard which had been on the prowl for the past five months was caught late Monday night and sent to Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar.
The villagers had lost their sleep after the carnivore snatched away Hiralal Pande’s four-year-old son Chhagan from the latter’s mother’s lap May 26. The remains of the child were recovered from a nearby forest, the next day. The incident had sent shockwaves in the district prompting the forest department to place three cages at different locations. But the animal couldn’t be caught. Moreover, it attacked an elderly woman and her granddaughter a few days later.
After being accused of inaction, the forest officials pulled up their shocks and managed to trap a leopard July 15. However, the villagers didn’t get any relief as they kept hearing growls of another leopard regularly. That leopard was finally trapped in the cage Monday.
The panicky villagers held a meeting on Jagannath temple premises Tuesday morning which went on for the entire day.
On being inquired, it was learnt that people believe that two more leopard cubs are still in the vicinity as only their parents have been caught. They won’t feel safe unless the other leopards are trapped, the villagers said.
It can be recalled that the forest department had set up camps in the village and a team led by a forester and six forest guards kept vigil on the movement of the leopards putting up three cages. The leopards were lured into the trap with goats.
The villagers now fear that as the cages would be removed after trapping of two man-eater leopards, this would leave them vulnerable to fresh attacks by the leopard cubs.
When the issue was raised with divisional forest officer (DFO) Gadadhar Patra, he said wild animals would coexist with human beings. “We are equally concerned about the safety of animals,” the DFO added.
Meanwhile, the department, on the demand of the villagers, has decided to put up nets around the hill to protect their lives. The process of laying nets is getting delayed which would make the wild animals enter the village again with ease, Panchayat Samiti member Pramod Kumar Sahoo alleged.
“Many people still go near the forest to relieve themselves as we don’t have enough toilets in the village. In the absence of streetlights in village people are at risk,” another villager Bhikhamlal Sahoo said.
Patra said the village would soon be provided with electricity connection and iron nets are being put up to protect human lives. PNN
