Dehradun, April 6 -- Uttarakhand Congress on Sunday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttarakhand over the rising incidents of wild animal attacks in hill districts, alleging that residents are living in fear while authorities have failed to respond effectively. Meanwhile, the BJP rebuffed with a sharp response, adding that the Congress was politicising the matter. Suryakant Dhasmana, senior vice-president of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, said leopards, elephants and bears were increasingly entering human settlements in both the Garhwal and Kumaon regions and sometimes attacking people inside their homes. Citing a recent incident, Dhasmana said a four-year-old girl was killed in a leopard attack last Thursday in Bhatkot Gadri Kolakhal village of Pokhra development block in Pauri Garhwal district. He alleged that such incidents were occurring repeatedly in hill districts, creating an atmosphere of fear among villagers. "In the past few months, particularly between September and March, several fatal attacks by wild animals such as bears, leopards and elephants have been reported from both the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions," Dhasmana said. He further alleged that the state government had limited its response to issuing statements and had failed to formulate a concrete policy to address the growing human-wildlife conflict. He further said that in Haldwani, three people, including a 55-year-old woman identified as Hasi Devi from Suryajala village, died in wildlife attacks within a span of one week. It triggered panic among residents. In another incident in Kaladhungi, a wild elephant allegedly trampled a 65-year-old man, Bhupendra Singh, to death on Saturday. According to the Congress leader, resentment against the forest department and the state government was growing in several hill districts due to what he described as ineffective measures to control the escalating conflict. Villagers in different areas have also staged protests and sit-ins demanding action, he said. Dhasmana added that Ganesh Godiyal, state Congress president visited Bhatkot Gadri village in Pokhra block on Saturday to meet the family of the child killed in the leopard attack. He said the party would soon seek a meeting with chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the state forest minister to demand the formulation of an effective policy to tackle human-wildlife conflict. "If the government fails to provide an immediate solution, the Congress will launch a statewide agitation," Dhasmana said. Reacting to the Dhasmana's allegations, Manveer Singh Chauhan, state media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said Congress has a habit of politicising every issue. "The state government and the Forest Department are making consistent efforts to check deaths caused by human-wildlife conflict in the state," he said. He further added that the forest department officials are working to prevent incidents of man-animal conflicts. He further targeted the Congress of politicising the issue. "The Forest Department is capturing leopards and even tigers in areas where they have created terror," the BJP leadersaid....