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Monkey menace persists, residents want export of simians allowed |
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SHIMLA: Monkeys have created terror among commuters and tourists here as the simians not only snatch eatables from people but also attack them. With walking on city roads becoming a safety hazard for people, Shimla Municipal Corporation has now demanded scientific culling and export of monkeys for bio-medical research after ultrasonic sound machines installed to keep these animals away from crowded areas have failed.
Having witnessed increased presence of monkeys in populated areas of Shimla, posing a threat to the safety of local residents and tourists, SMC, with the help of wildlife department, had installed ultrasonic sound machines to scare the monkeys away, in an area of 1,000 sq feet. But trial results of the machines have left MC authorities disappointed.
Mamta Sachdeva, a mother of two, had died in November last year after falling off the roof of her house. She was standing on the balcony of her house when she was attacked by monkeys and had jumped off the balcony in panic.
"This is not an isolated incident. It is only the tip of an iceberg, showing how big the problem of monkeys has become in Shimla. Each month, over 200 monkey-bite cases are reported in Shimla. We demand that the state government pass a resolution in the coming budget session to allow culling and export of monkeys," said Shimla deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar.
"The supersonic machine installed at CTO to keep the monkeys away from crowded areas of Shimla has failed the trial. We are waiting for a report from forest department on this," he said. Culling and export is the only solution to deal with the problem, he added.
Panwar said that a court had granted stay on their culling while the state government has banned their export, compounding the problem. With this, containing the monkey population has become a challenge for the authorities. Permission to export the monkeys, which are in high demand in foreign countries for bio-medical research, would solve the problem to a large extent, he said.
Members of Shimla Nagrik Sabha said that sterilisation of monkeys would not serve the purpose as some concrete steps need to be taken by the wildlife department to deal with the problem. Sabha secretary Vijay Kumar said that a massive rally is being organized outside Himachal Pradesh assembly on April 7 to draw the attention of state government towards the menace created by wild and stray animals.
Raising the issue of monkey menace in Parliament last year, BJP MP from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, had stated that farmers of Himachal Pradesh were forced to leave farming due to this. The Centre needs to revoke the ban on export of monkeys so that they can be sent to foreign countries for research and state can heave a sigh of relief, Thakur had stated.
On November 12 last year, Himachal Pradesh high court had expressed concern over the increasing number of monkeys and stray dogs. "Growth of monkey population is peaking and the number of stray dogs is also increasing by the day, which is posing a threat to everybody. It is shocking that last week, precious life of a young woman was lost," the court had observed.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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