Excelsior Correspondent
Pulwama, Nov 13: The Authorities in Pulwama today closed down a school for second consecutive day due to the threat posed by a pack of leopards, which are roaming in the area from past one week.
The school administration says a pack of three leopards were seen nearby Government Upper Primary School at village Chewa Kellen in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, and to avoid any mishap the school has been closed.
The students of the school said they saw the three leopards walking very close to the building, which spread a reign of terror among them.
Muzaffar Rasool, Headmaster of the school said today again the pack of three leopards was seen very close to the building and after some time the leopards entered into the school campus.
“We don’t want to take any risk and for the safety of our students we closed down school,” he said, adding that few days back local villagers of Loswani village here eliminated a leopard after it appeared in the Karewas of village.
Reports said that the leopards appeared during the working hours of the school causing panic among students. It caught the attention of villagers who rushed on the spot, but after seeing the huge crowd, the leopards fled away.
Locals said the school building was constructed in 2008 under SSA program and over 80 students are enrolled. “School has been constructed some two kilometers away from the residential houses in the Karewas of the village, where there is hardly any public movement throughout the day,” the villagers said.
The locals also complained that the school building was constructed in an isolated area without any fencing, which can prove fatal any time for the safety of their children.
A K Singh, Chief Wildlife Warden said in this season wild animals come close to residential areas in search of prey, adding that fields are open in this season so the chances of man-animal conflict remains.
“If there is any wild animal presence near human dominated area, the authorities must be made aware so that these animals are trapped to avoid chances of damage in the area. If in any area a leopard is found/declared man eater, we will kill him after a proper permission from the concerned authorities,” Singh said.
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