Tigers prowling in Kamptanda near Kishanpur sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh

Tiger scare near Kishanpur sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh
by Kamna Mathur

Kamptanda Village (UP): With tigers prowling around, the scared people of Kamptanda village near Kishanpur sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh are preparing to vacate their houses and go to safer places. The proposal to shift out of the village originally came from the villagers after a tiger killed three children in the village. Fearing for their lives the villagers sent the proposal to the district magistrate of the area and also to the wildlife department. The lawmaker from the area Ravi Verma disclosed that some families have already agreed to shift out. He said that the tiger protection agency has also agreed to give 100,000 rupees to each of the family for rehabilitation. "We sat and talked to the villagers of Kamptanda village to resolve the problem. The villagers have sent a proposal to shift elsewhere. A tiger protection agency has given a proposal to give ten lakh rupees to each family if they vacate the village. Some of the villagers have agreed to it. If this proposal works we will go ahead with it and the problem of the people will be solved," said Verma. The villagers complained that due to fear of tigers hiding in the surrounding sugarcane fields, they are unable to cultivate or attend to their crops. This is adversely affecting their livelihood. "Our crops are getting destroyed. We cannot protect the crops, because of the fear that the tiger will kill us. What will we eat? We have not cooked anything in our homes, we keep awake all night," said Kallu, a villager. Experts are of the view that the tigers are not getting sufficient food in Kishanpur sanctuary due to scarcity of herbivorous animals that has resulted from geological and ecological imbalance. They said that this forces these carnivorous animals to come to the human habitations to hunt for food. "We are unable to see herbivorous animals these days. Tigers need food. Now when herbivorous animals are not there, the tigers come out to the sugarcane cultivation, as there are pigs inside this cultivation. The tigers come to hunt them," said Jaswant Singh Kaler, an environmentalist.
-Jan 28, 2009

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