Monkeys terrorise Solan residents

Ambika Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Solan, August 31

The increasing simian population has become a cause for concern for residents of Housing Board Colony in the Solan Municipal Corporation area.

Monkeys chase the residents in the lure of laying hands on some eatable and become ferocious when attempts are made to drive them away. The residents, especially women and children, are scared of venturing out due to the fear of being attacked by the monkeys.

Moving around in troupes, they do not hesitate to enter homes if they find a door or window open. “Chores like drying clothes in the sun have become risky as the monkeys, at times, play with clothes and tear them apart,” said Sheetal, a housewife.

No provision for funds

Funds can be sought from the state government to depute monkey catchers as we do not have dedicated funds for the purpose. Trained persons come from Uttar Pradesh and perform the task professionally, though their charges are on a higher side compared to the government-approved rates for the task.  — Hitender Gupta, Divisional Forest Officer

“We have to ensure the safety of children while going to or coming back to school as the monkeys run after them,” she added.

Their population has registered a steep increase in the last year or so. Rajiv Kaura, councillor of the Housing Board Ward, said a request will be made to the Forest Department to deploy monkey catchers to the area.

He added that it has become difficult for the residents of Phase I of the Housing Board Colony to move out as the fear of being attacked by the monkeys looms large.

When contacted, Solan Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Hitender Gupta said, “Funds can be sought from the state government to depute the monkey catchers as we do not have dedicated funds for the purpose. These trained personnel come from Uttar Pradesh and perform the task professionally though their charges on a higher side compared to the government-approved rates for the task.”

He said the monkeys were declared vermin in 2016 in 38 tehsils of 10 districts and permission was granted to cull them in the non-forestry areas, but no notification to his effect was issued.

An exhaustive state-level money sterilisation campaign had been undertaken across the state from 2006. This had drastically reduced the simian population. However, the campaign has lost steam in the recent years and barely 5,273 monkeys were sterilised in 2023-24 though more than 10,000 were upon in from 2009 to 2019.

The simians were also declared vermin for a year in 2016. It had allowed authorities to cull them in non-forest areas.