Tiger claims 2nd victim in 20 days, kills tribal girl in Asifabad
Pasula Nirmala, an agricultural labourer from Kondapalli, was reportedly killed by a tiger while picking cotton in a field which is located in the thick Penchikalpet forest range of Kagaznagar forest division.
By S. Harpal Singh Published on 29 Nov 2020 10:45 AM GMT
Adilabad: In another instance of man-animal conflict, a tiger killed an 18-year-old tribal girl in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district on 29 November.
Pasula Nirmala, an agricultural labourer from Kondapalli, was reportedly killed by a tiger while picking cotton in a field which is located in the thick Penchikalpet forest range of Kagaznagar forest division.
On November 11, Sidam Vignesh, who like Nirmala belongs to the Koya tribe, was killed by a tiger in the forest near Digda in Dahegaon. The tiger that killed him reportedly killed the girl on Sunday.
The tiger is assumed to be moving in the same area since its first kill as the distance between Digda and Kondapalli is only around 30 km. The forest department officials have reached the spot and started operations to monitor the big cat.
On November 11, In a first of its kind incident of man-animal conflict in Telangana, a tribal youngster was killed by a tiger on Wednesday afternoon in the Kagaznagar forest range in Kumaran Bheem Asifabad district. The ill-fated youth was identified as Sidam Vignesh, a 23-year-old degree student belonging to Digda village in Dahegaon Mandal, located about 70 km from Kagaznagar town.
According to Kagaznagar DSP B.L.N. Swamy, Vignesh and a couple of his friends went fishing in the Peddavagu stream which flows about 2 km away from the village. It was while they were at it that the tiger suddenly pounced upon Vignesh who is said to have entered the nearby forest for collecting leaves.
The big cat dragged the badly mauled body of the ill-fated youth to some distance in full view of the friends and farmers in nearby agriculture fields. No sooner the news of the incident reached the village and spread further, Forest department officials reached the spot. They were, however, faced by angry protests from relatives of the deceased and the villagers who demanded compensation of Rs. 10 lakh and a government job for an eligible member in the family.
The incident has come at a time when tiger conservation has been taken up big time by the State Forest Department in KB Asifabad district, especially focussing the efforts in Kagaznagar forest division. The result of the efforts of Forest officials could be seen that the place is teeming with migrant big cats. According to an estimate some 10 to 12 tigers have crossed over into KB Asifabad during recent months from the forest in neighbouring Maharashtra thanks to the place being made comparatively safer for wild animals. Some of these wild animals have gone resident in the local forest.
