Monkey menace again a poll issue in Himachal
At a time when parties are vying with one another to woo voters ahead of assembly elections in Himachal, monkeys are on centre stage, with three major parties — Congress, BJP and CPI (M) — promising to find a permanent solution to the menace.
Over 2,300 villages across state are affected by simians, which has compelled farmers to diversify from traditional agricultural practices. As per report by agriculture department, marauding monkeys and birds cause a loss of Rs 50.10 crore annually. Wild animals cause loss of Rs 184.28 crore to crops annually in Himachal.
In the past three years, monkeys attacked 674 people across the state and government had to pay compensation of ₹ 28 lakh.
Two years ago, Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government had asked Centre to notify monkeys as vermin in Shimla and 34 other tehsils. Union environment ministry, dissatisfied with measures taken by the state to control monkey population, had declined to issue such notification. In 2005, the Virbhadra government initiated a programme to sterilise monkeys. Monkeys sterilised earlier had no marks on them, so wildlife officials tattooed monkeys undergoing vasectomy.
CPI (M)-backed Kisan Sabha is demanding Centre to lift embargo on export of monkeys. “This problem has remained core issue for us. Wild animal menace is one of the priority points in our election manifesto,” says CPI (M) leader Vijender Mehra.
“It’s strange that all these four years, the Virbhadra government made tall claims of resolving the wild animal menace. But you can see the hollowness of these claims in Kasumpti where monkeys still rule the roost,” said Satyawaan Pundir, who is district president of Kisan Sabha.
BJP spokesman Praveen Sharma said, “We have offered many solutions to the problem in our vision document.” Umesh Dutt, a member of the BJP’s vision document committee, said, “The party has proposed to keep animal watchers in rural areas.
We will also motivate the farmers to install solar fencing around their fields.” Farmers face problem of wild animals which cause damage to crops, particularly in the low-lying areas of state.
They have often sought intervention of government to control burgeoning population of sambar deer. Its population is swelling in Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Una, Kangra, Chamba, Mandi and Solan districts. As per a report by agriculture department, wild animals cause a loss of Rs 184.28 crore to crops annually in the state. The marauding monkeys and birds cause a loss of Rs 150.10 crore annually.