The villagers of scenic Ganeshpur in Uttarkashi district are themselves cutting down their walnut and guava trees in fear of bears, which have attacked and injured over half-a-dozen people in the last two months.

Arvind Rawat, the village panchayat chief, told reporters on Tuesday: “Bears haven’t entered the area in the last 48 hours because villagers were celebrating Diwali by lighting firecrackers. But they will return in search of guavas and walnuts, and attack us also.”

“The villagers are so terrorised that they have started cutting their own guava and walnut trees. We never faced such a problem till last year. Now, bears are straying out of the nearby forest, we don’t know why. The villagers are going out of their houses in groups in fear of the wild animals,” Rawat said.

He alleged that the forest department’s actions to prevent bears from entering the villages were not enough.

Bhatwari block, where Ganeshpur is located, is considered the gateway to the Gangotri temple. Known for its scenic beauty, the place is also a favourite meeting point for trekkers. Many tourists prefer to stay in homestays at Ganeshpur because of the clean view of the Himalayas from there.

Shivendra Chauhan, a forest beat officer, said: “We are keeping a close watch on the area to stop the animals from straying out of the forest. The villagers are expected to go out in groups and use firecrackers to keep the bears away from their area.”

The bear is an endangered animal and can’t be killed without special permission from the government.

The last bear attack was reported in the nearby village of Judda in Rishikesh on Monday. Medha Bhandari, 42, was cutting grass in a field about 500 metres from her village when a bear attacked her. She has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, with deep head injuries.

“We heard her crying and struggling to free herself from the bear and rushed to save her. The bear ran into the bushes. We carried her to a hospital about 2km from our village on foot. She was shifted from there to the AIIMS,” said Sundari Devi, the mother-in-law of the victim.

“The villagers have decided not to go to their agricultural fields and send their children to school till the problem is solved by the forest department,” she said.

Anurag Joshi, the forest ranger of the area, said: “The forest department has started the process of giving financial assistance to the victim. Our teams are
camping in the area to ensure that the bears don’t stray out of the forest.”