The kuccha roads of these settlements are almost deserted as the sun sets, if one has to step out, it is rarely alone and always armed with flashlights. It has an estimated population of 50,000 with 28 tribal hamlets and slum pockets, and 36 cattle farms along with a good patch of forest. The attacks have also sparked a debate between residents living in fear and the forest department on monitoring the entire leopard population in Aarey, which has a dense forest as well as human settlements.Īarey Milk Colony, abutting SGNP, is spread across 3,166 acres. He doesn’t walk alone anymore,” said Rohit’s mother. I am always around when he plays outside. “Thankfully, he was not severely injured.
The 10-year-old was pounced on as he was walking home on a September evening. In Ekta Nagar, one of the settlements deep within Aarey, Rohit Tilak is now anxious and hesitates to step out of his house alone.
A poster to spread awareness about leopards.
