U'khand: Officials visit Pauri, arrange vehicles for students in Rudraprayag amid animal attacks

Pauri/Rudraprayag, Dec 8 (PTI) Amid increasing incidents of human-wildlife conflict in Uttarakhand, a team of senior officials reached Pauri district on Monday, while more than a dozen vehicles have been arranged in Rudraprayag district to safely transport students to schools.

In recent days, several people have lost their lives, and many others have been injured in attacks by bears, tigers, and leopards in various areas of Pauri.

Taking note of the increasing cases of such occurrences, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had instructed officials to visit the area and take required action.

Principal Secretary (Forests) R K Sudhanshu and other senior officials visited Pauri's Gajald village, where a leopard recently attacked and killed a man named Rajendra Nautiyal.

Sudhanshu met Nautiyal's family members, expressed condolences on behalf of the government, and handed over a compensation check to the affected family.

The principal secretary (Forests) also appreciated the prompt action taken by the district administration and the forest department in the incident and the cooperation of the villagers.

After inspecting the incident site and reviewing the measures taken to deal with the man-eating leopard, Sudhanshu assured the villagers of a speedy resolution to the problem.

He also sought suggestions from the villagers for mitigating human-wildlife conflict.

The Principal Secretary (Forests) held a meeting with the officials and instructed them to prepare and distribute a list of 'dos and don'ts' to the villagers, and use WhatsApp groups at the range and forest panchayat levels, and social media platforms at the divisional level, for disseminating information related to wildlife activities.

Meanwhile, in the Rudraprayag district, 13 vehicles have been arranged for school children to protect them from attacks by bears and other aggressive wild animals.

On the instructions of Rudraprayag District Magistrate Prateek Jain, education department officials have made this arrangement free of charge for the children. These vehicles will provide transportation facilities to more than 200 children from 28 villages in wildlife-affected areas. PTI DPT AMJ AMJ