“I can’t close my eyes. Every time I do, I see the leopard dragging away my grandson,” says 70-year-old Suman Arjun Bombe, her voice trembling.“I don’t want to go to school. The wagh (which means tiger. Some locals refer to leopards as wagh) attacked Shivanya,” five-year-old Vaishnavi tells her grandfather Popat Jadhav.These words capture the deep fear gripping the villagers of Pimparkhed in Shirur. Over the past month, within a 5km radius covering Pimparkhed and nearby Jambut, three people have lost their lives in tragic encounters between humans and leopards. Rohan Vilas Bombe (13) was killed in Shirur taluka on Sunday afternoon, the fifth such death arising from human-leopard conflict in Pune district this year. Following the incident, angry villagers set on fire a forest department vehicle and that of the Rapid Response Force, said officials. The situation remained tense as police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order. This was the second death from a leopard attack in Pimparkhed village and third in the area.Order to capture or shoot the leopardFollowing Bombe’s death, an order has been issued by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), the head of Maharashtra’s forest department, to tranquilise and capture the leopard involved in the attack or shoot and eliminate the animal, which is proving a threat to human life. Four teams of shooters were deployed in the area by Monday evening, said officials from the forest department adding that 25 trap cameras, 10 trap cages and multiple drone cameras have been set up in the area.Also Read | Who are the target shooters deployed for the operation to capture or eliminate the leopards?“Four teams of shooters have been deployed in different sectors of the area. The team will first try to tranquilise and capture the animal, and if that is not possible, the animal will be shot under powers given by the Wildlife Protection Act. This order will remain in force till December 31,” said a senior forest department officer.Shaila Bombe, a 50-year-old farner said, “Most households in the area have put up fences around the premises, at least those who can afford” (Express Photo)On October 12, Shivanya Shailesh Bombe (5) was killed in a leopard attack in the same Pimparkhed village. On October 22, 70-year-old Bhagubai Rangnath Jadhav was killed in Jambut village, just 7km away. Earlier in April, an 85-year-old woman was killed in a leopard attack at a village in Shirur taluka. In the last week of September, a six-year-old boy who was studying in front of his house in a village at Junnar taluka was killed by a leopard.Pune-Nashik highway blockedHundreds of local residents held a rasta roko at Manchar on the Pune-Nashik highway on Monday morning, demanding a permanent solution to the human-leopard conflict in the Junnar forest division. Deputy Superintendent of Police Prashant Dhole said, “Residents staged a road blockade on the Pune-Nashik highway from 10am. We have deployed the full strength of local police formations in the area, while the traffic on the highway has been diverted to other roads. We are closely monitoring the situation.”Story continues below this adThe small internal roads, towards which the traffic from the highway was diverted, witnesses heavy jams during the day. The blockade continued late into the night, with several political leaders joining the agitation and addressing the crowd. MP Amol Kolhe called Pune Collector Jitendra Dudi over phone, and their conversation was broadcast over loudspeaker for the assembled villagers.Also Read | Remove leopards from Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act: Shirur MP Amol KolheWhen contacted, Dudi said, “Multiple proactive measures have been implemented both by the district administration as well as the state government such as deploying extra cages, providing agriculture electricity during day time and the unprecedented measure of giving the order to capture or shoot the leopard. Now, two crucial decisions are pending at the level of the Union government. One is shifting additional leopard populations and the most important is sterilization. We are pursuing these matters…We are trying to convince villagers to stay vigilant till the leopard population is controlled.”Fear grips the villagesPopat Haribhau Jadhav (60) said, “Shivanya was my granddaughter’s classmate in the local kindergarten. Since she heard about the attack (on Shivanya), she stopped going to school. We are going to shift my grandson to another school.”Rohan’s grandmother Suman Arjun Bombe (70) said, “I was in the yard before the house and Rohan was a few feet away in the open space. The leopard pounced on him from behind the tin shed and started dragging Rohan. I could not get up because of severe joint pain. Rohan was screaming and stopped moments later. I alerted a neighbour to call Rohan’s parents, who were working in the onion field. After getting the call, my son Vilas came running, but it was too late. I can’t close my eyes. Everytime I do, I see the leopard dragging away my grandson.”Story continues below this adShaila Bombe, a 50-year-old farner said, “Most households in the area have put up fences around the premises, at least those who can afford. Both my grandchildren remain inside the fence all the time and step out only with an adult. Going to school has become a nightmare for these kids. I heard there is an order to kill the leopard. How many will you kill? Whom are they trying to fool? We have decided that we will not vote in any election until there is a permanent solution to this problem.”Proposal of sterilizing leopards still pendingWith a growing leopard population in the Junnar forest area in Pune leading to increased incidents of human-leopard conflict in the region, the Maharashtra forest department—in July last year—sent a proposal to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to sterilise 36 female and 11 male leopards as a targeted birth control method to bring down the leopard population. The proposed number for sterilization was increased further. However, the proposal is still pending, confirmed officials.A study was conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the Maharashtra forest department under the project titled ‘Understanding Population Dynamics, Space Use, Movement and Diet of Leopards in Junnar for Human Leopard Conflict mitigation’. It states that the irrigation projects in the last couple of decades have led to the expansion of sugarcane cropping areas in the landscape. Sugarcane crops account for a safe habitat to hide and breed, and frequent livestock activity in the surroundings provides a good opportunity to depredate livestock for the leopards. The availability of sugarcane and domestic prey is helping the leopard population thrive in this landscape.The report highlights birth control measures such as mechanical methods, endocrine-disruptive, immune-contraceptive as well as surgical methods. Considering the above-mentioned techniques, their usage, practicality, complications, and the effects they have on the life of the animals, subjecting the male to laparoscopic vasectomy and female animals to laparoscopic tubectomy, would be the most feasible option for practical implementation of the birth control of the leopard population in this landscape.