Rohtak MC’s drive to catch monkeys hits roadblock

Rohtak, June 8

The monkey menace is on the rise in Rohtak city. Troops of monkeys can be seen roaming freely on roads, streets and parks at any time of the day. The monkeys attack the residents and passers-by, enter houses, take away eatables and damage household articles.

PERMISSION DENIED

The agency hired to catch monkeys has been denied permission to leave these in forests by the Forest Department due to the recently changed provisions under the Wildlife Protection Act.

Simians causing nuisance

}Monkeys have become a big nuisance for the city residents as they attack and injure people, especially children and elderly. Repeated complaints made to the district administration, HSVP and the municipal authorities seem to have fallen on deaf ears.— Pawan Malik, a local resident

There seems to be no end in sight to the simian scare prevailing in Rohtak city as the local Municipal Corporation’s project to catch monkeys has hit a roadblock. The MC had recently hired an agency to catch monkeys, as they have become a big nuisance for the residents. However, the agency was denied permission to leave the monkeys in the forest area by the Forest Department, owing to recently changed provisions under the Wildlife Protection Act.

Contacted for comments, Joint Municipal Commissioner Vijay Singh admitted that the drive to catch monkeys had to be halted in view of the denial of permission to leave them in the forest area. Questioned about the next course of action, the officer maintained that the district administration would take up the matter with the state authorities.

“Monkeys have become a big nuisance for the city residents as they attack and injure people, especially children and elderly. Repeated complaints made to the district administration as well as the local HSVP and municipal authorities seem to have fallen on deaf ears,” said Pawan Malik, a local resident.

After sitting on the numerous complaints of residents regarding the monkey menace for years, the local municipal authorities had recently hired an agency to catch the monkeys, but even that project had to be abandoned, at least as of now. What course of action is adopted by the district administration, the MC and state authorities to give relief to the residents from simian scare remains to be seen.