No end to monkey menace, Jind residents seek action

Tribune News Service

Deepender Deswal

Jind, February 18

The monkey menace here seems to be unmanageable for the local authorities. With around 5,000 monkeys, residents in most of the localities are facing a harrowing time. Even places like the Civil Hospital are infested with monkeys.

Large population of monkeys in the town has been a major problem for residents for the past many decades. The local municipal council authorities have also floated a tender for inviting monkey catchers to catch the animals. Sources said four firms had applied, but three of these did not submit their documents, which resulted in the cancellation of the tender process.

Raj Saini, a representative of the MC Chairperson in Jind district, said the tender process could not be completed due to lack of participants as per the norms. He said the civic body would again float a tender and expect to rope in some agency to make the town free of monkeys.

Saini said the forest area adjoining Jind town was the main source of the simian problem.

“There are around 50,000 monkeys in the forest area. They visit the town in search of food. And now, the entire town is their second home,” he added, while admitting that numerous instances when residents have been attacked and bitten by monkeys have come to the fore. Initially, the civic body invited bids to catch 2,000 monkeys.

Raj Kumar Goyal, president of the Jind Vikas Sangathan, a social organisation, said it had become a menace for residents.

He said around 5,000 monkeys roam in the town.

“There is hardly any locality where monkeys cannot be found. Monkeys can be seen in posh areas such as Urban Estate, Sectors 7, 8, 9 and 11, Patel Nagar, Defence Colony, Gandhi Nagar Colony, Krishna Colony and Government Employees Colony. Even at the Civil Hospital, a large number of monkeys not only scare the visitors, but also enter hospital wards and take away belongings of patients and their attendants,” he said.

Civil Hospital employees had also complained to the Deputy Commissioner and the MC authorities about the menace. As per an estimate, the town, on an average, witnesses 100 to 150 monkey-bite instances in one month.

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