The police claim that Aarey Colony residents are living in fear of leopards and the big cats should be trapped and moved elsewhere
mid-day's March 24 report on MLA Waikar's demands to trap the leopards
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A week after local MLA and minister Ravindra Waikar made an outrageous demand to kick leopards out of their natural habitat in Aarey Milk Colony, the local police are now making the same demand, claiming that local residents are living in fear of the big cat. The police also claim that the locals themselves have demanded that the leopards be trapped and moved out of Aarey.
Chafyachapada attack
In a March 22 letter to the Forest Department, the Aarey Colony police wrote: "There was attack that took place on March 20 at Chafyachapada in Aarey, during which a 3-year-old boy was injured. There have been several attacks in which kids and women got injured, and there are cases where leopards have snatched pet dogs and birds too. People staying in Aarey have to walk through isolated roads late at night, and locals have been complaining that this can result in more human-leopard conflict incidents. So, they have also demanded that the leopard should be trapped."
FD mum on letter
The forest department sent a reply to the police department yesterday, but remained mum on the contents of the letter. However, this demand has irked environmentalists, particularly because it has come from a government department.
'Shocking and illogical'
Pawan Sharma from the NGO, RAWW, said, "Coming from a government department, this demand is shocking and illogical. The need of the hour is to conduct awareness sessions to for the police. The police authorities posted there should read the Wildlife Protection Act, which prohibits random trapping of leopard or any wildlife."
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