Adilabad: Tigress makes presence felt

TAMSI (K),  ADILABAD: The fear of a tigress, who has made her way into the Bheempur mandal of Adilabad district from the Tippeshwar wildlife sanctuary in Maharashtra, has resulted in parents taking their children home from a primary school in Tamsi (K) village on Monday. The tigress, who been moving in the area in the past week or so, was first seen on Monday morning by some women washing clothes in the Penganga river, which forms the border between Maharashtra and Telangana state.

The women spotted from a distance the tiger drinking water from the river. They ran away leaving their clothes and raised an alarm. Meanwhile, Mr Anand, a teacher, and Mr Pardhasaradhi, a Vidya volunteer at the Government Primary School, got onto the roof of the school building and reported that they saw the tigress moving in some bushes not very far away from the school’s compound wall.

Meanwhile, irate villagers, who armed themselves with sticks, gathered quickly and chased the tigress away from the area. Soon after, parents of several students rushed to the school and took their children home to safety.

Mr Kunara Ashok, one of the villagers, said many parents have stopped sending their children to school for the past four days because of fear of the tigress moving in the area. Some parents were sending their children to the school so their studies are not disturbed. Vankhade Prabhakar, chairman of the school development committee, said only 50 per cent of students were attending school, with a strength of 80 students. Explaining the atmosphere of fear in the area, he said he had stopped his children from playing outside his house. Many parents are not allowing their children to leave their homes, he said.

Meanwhile, the fear of the animal on the prowl has resulted in villagers, who travel to other nearby towns for work, returning home before sunset. And most people are staying at home after dark. Reports on movement of the tigress were received from Gollaghat and Indoorpalli villages more than a week ago. So far, it has attacked five cows, and compensation for loss of the animals has been paid to their owners promptly, forest department officials said.