Monkey menace forces farmers to abandon fields in lower Kangra hills

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, July 22

The burgeoning simian menace in the lower Kangra hills bordering Punjab has forced several farmers to give up maize cultivation.

Successive governments turn a blind eye

• Resentment has been brewing among farmers of lower Kangra as successive state governments, including the present regime, have failed to adopt an effective solution against the menace
• The population of monkeys in the state has increased manifold in the past decade
• The then Prem Kumar Dhumal-led state government had started a drive to sterilise monkeys in 2009. The project was halted after some time
• Later, the Forest Department was assigned the job to set up sterilisation centres in the state
• Sources claimed that owing to the lackadaisical attitude of the department, these centres remained ineffective due to the lack of the requisite infrastructure

During the past two years, while some farmers have left their fields uncultivated, others have resorted to growing fodder in their maize fields.

Around 4,000 acres were left uncultivated this kharif season due to the simian menace.

Resentment has been brewing among farmers of lower Kangra as successive state governments, including the present regime, have failed to adopt an effective solution against the menace.

The population of monkeys in the state has increased manifold in the past decade.

The then Prem Kumar Dhumal-led state government had started a drive to sterilise monkeys in 2009.

The project was halted after some time. Later, the Forest Department was assigned the job to set up sterilisation centres in the state.

Sources claimed that owing to the lackadaisical attitude of the department, these centres remained ineffective due to the lack of the requisite infrastructure. After the Dhumal-led government, no government took the pressing issue seriously, resulting in an sizeable surge in simian population across the state.

Jaswant Singh, Subhash Singh and Sham Singh of the Kopra gram panchayat said they used to cultivate maize up until five years ago.

Despite spending many sleepless nights to protect their crop, a large portion of their produce was destroyed by monkeys.

Similarly, Naresh Singh, Anuj Kumar, Joginder of the Geora panchayat rued that in the past three years, they had failed to even recover the input costs of their maize crop as monkeys and stray animals wreaked havoc to their standing crop.

“The monkey and stray cattle menace has been haunting the agriculture sector. However, the government has devised no effective policy to deal with the problem,” Joginder said.

Agriculture Deputy Director (Palampur) Rahul Katoch noted that maize and paddy crops were being cultivated over around 52,000 and 55,000 hectares, respectively.

He encouraged farmers to employ composite and chain link fencing to protect their cereal crops as the state government provided 70 per cent subsidy on this kind of fencing. Farmers could apply online on the department’s portal for the same, he added.

Unproductive cows and bulls are being abandoned by owners with impunity. Vehicles loaded with abandoned animals are often left in rural areas of Nurpur, Indora, Jawali and Fatehpur subdivisions, and the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway-154 during the nights.

State authorities have turned a blind eye to the increasing stray animal menace in the inter-state district.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kangra unit) president Suresh Singh Pathania has appealed to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to find a permanent solution to this menace and take action against those who abandon their animals.