Man-eaters of Mumbai

Chalal, a labour lawyer, died on a path he had walked for the last 20 years, a favourite of 300 walkers despite regular leopard sightings.

Chalal died a brutal death as almost 40 leopards are turning towards easy prey — first dogs, now humans — in a thinning forest along Mumbai’s northern suburbs. Last year, a five-year-old boy was killed by a leopard that scaled a 20-ft wall in a plush housing complex built by the Rahejas.

Until Saturday, the usual risk zones for leopard attacks were Aarey Colony, Thane, Bhandup and Powai where the expanding city hugs the forest borders. Leopard-warning signs are common at the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, where Panthera pardus (its official name) is the stuff of hushed stories and hostel posters.

In Nagpur, Chief Wildlife Conservator of Forests K. Subramanian said he’s ‘‘sending wildlife expert V.V. Savarkar to Mumbai.” His job won’t be easy. Despite a Bombay High Court directive in 1997, the forest is not fenced in by a boundary wall. Plans for a 98-km boundary wall along the Park’s periphery are stuck in red-tape though the state sanctioned Rs 10 crore in 2002. When the wall comes up, some 12,000 illegal hutments and encroachers will be removed.

Ashok Khot, additional chief secretary, forests, says seven trap cages have been set up. ‘‘If officials decide that certain leopards have turned man-eaters, we will take eliminate them.’’