With natural water holes drying up and tanks allegedly not being filled up by officials, leopards are venturing into adivasi settlements in search of water
With natural water holes drying up and tanks allegedly not being filled up by officials, leopards are venturing into adivasi settlements in search of water
An alleged oversight on the part of the Forest Department is putting human lives in jeopardy inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) as dangerous felines have taken to venturing into adivasi settlements in order to soothe their parched throats. With the mercury soaring, many natural watering holes in the sanctuary have dried up and the state forest department has allegedly not been filling up the artificial ones, leaving beasts like leopards no choice but to enter human settlements in search of water.
The tribals are scared, and with good reason. They began sleeping inside their houses instead of just outside, as was their custom, after a string of cases emerged of leopards attacking human beings in adivasi padas in the park and in Aarey Colony. They say instances of leopards being spotted in their settlements have gone up exponentially in the past fortnight.u00a0
Speaking to MiD DAY, Chandu Lakshman Dagle (29) from Chuna Pada said, "During summer, most of the natural watering holes dry up and the forest officials are supposed to keep filling water in the artificial holes. This is not being done, however, and we are seeing an increasing number of leopards entering our colonies is search of water."
"They come to our padas looking for water, but end up attacking our hens and other animals and sometimes humans too. The worst part is that they keep coming back because they feel that they will get easy prey here. We are living in fear and dread because of someone else's oversight," he added.
Failure to act
Desha Gamre (25), a resident of another adivasi pada, alleged that the forest department has failed to act on the water problem despite various complaints being lodged by the tribals. "The forest department has been saying that there are 44 live water holes in the park along with two lakes but wild animals like leopards always keep moving around in search of food. In the absence of streams fed by rainwater, the artificial watering holes can meet the animals' water needs, but the department is not filling those watering holes. This is leading to dangerous animals coming to our settlements in search of water."
"We have begun to keep water in plastic tubs at a safe distance from our houses so that when leopards come they can drink water and leave our territory without harming our animals and us. The forest officials' neglect will only lead to human-animal conflict."
A wildlife expert, who did not wish to be named, also blamed the forest department for not being serious about the welfare of the animals. "If the SGNP forest department truly cared about the animals, they would have filled all the artificial watering holes in the forest and ensured that cases of poaching also came down. Even patrolling by forest guards to discourage and apprehend poachers has come down in the past few days."
What we saw
When MiD DAY visited SGNP, we found that the small streams that flow during the monsoon season have dried up completely. We found some artificial watering holes that had no water and a few others which had just a few litres as opposed to their capacity of a few hundred.
As we travelled towards the Kanheri Hill along the Shilonda Trail, we found that there was one artificial watering hole that had hardly four litres of water as opposed to its capacity of close to 300 litres.
Tribals to blame
This reporter also saw that a few natural watering holes had been polluted by tribals washing their clothes in them, making the water unfit for drinking. Thus, the tribals, too, have a role in the animals having to look for water elsewhere.u00a0
Krishna Tiwary, who made a documentary on leopards in SGNP for the National Geographic Channel last year and has worked on several wildlife projects, said, "There is water in SGNP but the animals or one department alone cannot be blamed if leopards are entering human territory in search of water and food.
We have seen many cases where adivasis have polluted live water holes by washing their clothes, leaving behind water mixed with detergent powder. If they don't want leopards to enter their padas, they should make sure that they don't pollute the natural water sources."
Flora & Fauna
Munde said there are close to 25 leopards in the SGNP. The park is home to over 1,000 species of plants, 251 species of migratory, land and water birds, 5,000 species of insects and 40 species of mammals.
The Other Side
When MiD DAY spoke to the SGNP's Chief Forest Conservator, P N Munde, he said, "There are around 44 live water holes in the park besides the Vihar and Tulsi lakes. It would thus be wrong to say that water is not available for the animals." However, when we showed Munde some pictures of artificial water holes which told a different story, he said, "Now that you have told us about the problem, we will fill all the artificial water holes in the park as soon as possible to ensure that the animals don't go thirsty."
Did you know?
In June 2004, leopards were responsible for the deaths of 20 people within the span of a week. Eight leopards were caught and relocated after a public outcry was raised
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