In a tragic incident, a six-year-old boy was killed in a leopard attack at the Ayurpadi Tea Estate in the Valparai region of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Coimbatore district.
The incident has triggered an urgent response from the Tamil Nadu government, which has now constituted a high-level committee to prevent future human-wildlife conflicts in tea estate areas.
The victim, identified as Saiful Alam, belonged to a migrant family from Assam living in a workers’ settlement within the private company-owned tea estate. On the evening of December 6, around 7.15 pm, the boy was playing in front of his house when a leopard suddenly emerged, dragged him into the nearby tea bushes and disappeared.
On hearing the child’s screams, neighbours immediately alerted plantation officials. Personnel from the Valparai Forest Division rushed to the spot and launched an extensive search operation. During the search, the boy’s body was later found in the tea bushes and was sent to the Valparai Government Hospital for post-mortem examination.
The Forest Department is providing all necessary assistance to the bereaved family. To prevent similar incidents, awareness programmes for plantation workers and officials are being conducted continuously in all estate areas. Review and consultation meetings with estate managers are also being held under the leadership of the Coimbatore District Collector.
Plantation authorities have been instructed to clear and clean areas around workers’ quarters, install adequate lighting near houses and strengthen vigilance during evening hours. Awareness programmes were conducted in this particular estate two weeks ago.
As a long-term preventive measure, the State government has formed a special committee headed by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Rama Subramanian. The committee includes the Deputy Director of the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve, the Sub-Collector of Pollachi, a representative from the Nature Conservation Trust, the Valparai Municipal Commissioner and the Assistant Commissioner of Labour (Plantations), Valparai Zone. The committee will submit its report to the government within two weeks.
