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The marauding monkeys of Himachal Pradesh are all set to face the gun following official orders, writes
Vishal Gulati
Himachal Pradesh takes pride in temples dedicated to Lord Hanuman, but the tale is about to turn grim for thousands for monkeys in the state. The government has now backed a farmer outfit’s plan to shoot monkeys at sight as the simians have been causing huge damage to crops. “Operation Monkey” has already received the consent of the government, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said. Recently, the farmer outfit Kheti Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (KBSS) virtually issued shoot-at-sight orders to prevent marauding monkeys from taking over their fields. Fed up with the failure of successive governments in the state, thousands of farmers under the KBSS have planned to go for mass shooting on random sighting of wild animals, including monkeys, wild boars and blue bulls, from December 10 to 23. KBSS state convener Kuldeep Singh Tanwar said the state governments have so far failed to check the menace of wild animals. “The wild animals cause losses to the tune of Rs 300 crore annually by damaging the crops. Of this, more than 50 per cent damage is caused by monkeys alone,” he said. KBSS is motivating the farmers across the state to apply to conservators of forests and divisional forest officers for permits to shoot wild animals causing destruction. They are trying to secure 10,000 permits. The government, in its notification of March 2 this year, had allowed the selective killing of nilgais (blue bulls) in Kangra, Bilaspur, Una, Solan and Sirmaur districts. “Over the past few years, the farmers had been complaining about the havoc created by blue bulls. They were demanding their killing. Like the selective killing of monkeys, wild boars, jackals, hare, black bears and parrots, the government has allowed the execution of blue bulls,” then forest minister J.P. Nadda had informed the state assembly on March 5. According to Chief Wildlife Warden A.K. Gulati, as per the government notification, the area divisional forest officer and range officers had been authorised to issue permits for killing the animals. He said only affected people would carry out the killing of wild animals and the wildlife wing would not execute it. “There will be selective killing and no mass culling at all,” he said. The wildlife wing estimates that more than nine lakh farmers are affected by wild animals. Monkeys, numbering more than three lakh, mainly target the cereal and fruit crops, causing extensive damage. However, the move has made animal protection groups and religious leaders furious. “We will discourage any form of mass culling or the indiscriminate issuing of gun licences. Himachal Pradesh is also known as ‘dev bhoomi’ or land of gods. The state must uphold this tradition and marry it with modern scientific tools of wildlife management,” said Arpan Sharma, a spokesperson for Delhi-based Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations. “Human encroachment has resulted in animals being left without homes and no choice but to wander into cities and farms. Ecological harmony can’t be restored through the barrel of a gun,” said PETA India chief functionary Poorva Joshipura. The development is significant as Himachal Pradesh takes pride in temples dedicated to Lord Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god. Only about a month ago, a giant idol of the Lord Hanuman was unveiled in the Jakhu hills of
Shimla. — IANS
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