Tiger on prowl, MANIT shifts to online classes

The management of the institute has issued a circular asking students and staffers to be alert and avoid roaming in the areas having dense forestation on the campus.

The Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, shifted to online classes after a tiger entered the campus, leading to the closure of the institute for safety reasons. MANIT Registrar Binod Doley said officials of the Forest department informed about the tiger’s pugmarks being spotted after which they had decided to have online classes. 

“We will resume offline classes likely next week as forest officials are hopeful that the tiger would move out of the campus on its own in a day or two. Cages have been put up by forest department staff and drones as well as cameras have been deployed to monitor the tiger’s movement,” Doley said. 

Students, teachers and staff have been told to stay indoors during the night. We have also conducted drills on the campus to tackle emergencies, he said. Though no one has seen the tiger physically, pugmarks have been spotted. Forest department officials have said the wild cat has attacked two or three cows, Doley added. 

Cameras, cage put up to trap wild cat 

Bhopal Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Alok Pathak said his department wanted the tiger, possibly two years old, to move out naturally. Cameras have been installed to catch the image of the animal and pads were put up to register pugmarks. 

He said a cage had also been put up on the campus and a team of forest department personnel was keeping a vigil on it. The management of the institute has issued a circular asking students and staffers to be alert and avoid roaming in the areas having dense forestation on the campus, the circular said. 

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