Two farmers injured in bison attack in Sangli

Kolhapur: Two farmers, Laxman Mane (45) and Bandopant Patil (40), from Mandur village in Sangli, were injured in a gaur (bison) attack on Tuesday evening while they were cutting sugar cane. They were admitted to a private hospital in Karad with injuries to their legs and thighs.As per information received from the incident site and from the Shirala forest range, the two farmers were working in a field on Tuesday morning when a gaur suddenly appeared from behind the sugar cane crop and attacked them. Laxman Mane was picked up by the gaur and thrown to the ground. He suffered serious injuries to his thigh and extensive injuries to his body, while Bandopant Patil suffered injuries to his face and body.After the incident, villagers immediately took both injured men to the primary health centre in Mandur. After first-aid treatment, they were shifted to a private hospital in Karad for further treatment due to the seriousness of the wounds. A large crowd of relatives and villagers gathered outside the hospital.Farmers in the area alleged that the forest department was not taking concrete measures to reduce animal attacks, and said frequent incidents have sparked fear.Ashok Patil, a farmer from Mandur, said, "If the gaurs are not controlled, how will farmers work in their farmlands? Going to the farm has become life-threatening due to the fear of leopards and gaurs. Two gaur attacks have taken place in the past couple of days, which is serious, and the forest department needs to immediately do something to shift the animals to forest areas."This was the fourth gaur attack in the Kolhapur-Sangli region within the past five days. On Monday, Dec 29, a gaur attacked a farmer, Shivaji Chincholkar, at Shirale Varun village in Shahuwadi tehsil of Kolhapur. The farmer sustained serious injuries to his stomach and is undergoing treatment at CPR Hospital in Kolhapur.Earlier, on Saturday, Dec 27, an 82-year-old farmer, from Kisrul village in Kolhapur's Panhala tehsil, died after a gaur attacked him on Dec 26 while he was working in a farm.On Dec 26, a forest worker, Shankar Sakharam Sukhye, a resident of Buzawde in Chandgad tehsil of Kolhapur, was injured after a gaur attacked him on Friday early morning while he was carrying out his patrolling work. The injured worker was taken to a private hospital in Belagavi for treatment.