‘ Save us from monkeys and get our votes’
Rampaging animals have become a key issue in Saharsa district for Bihar elections
Rampagingmonkeys robbing food from the kitchens and grains fromthe fields have emerged as themain poll issue in a particular district in Bihar devastated by annual flooding.
For the over 50,000 population, settled in two assembly constituencies of Saharsa district, some 230km east of Patna, monkeys have become amajor headache. Villagers say the army of monkeys have been invading their kitchens, tearing clothes being dried on their roof, breaking tiles of mud houses and even destroying standing crops in fields but no politician has taken their problem seriously.
Left with no options, the villagers have been compelled to deal with the money menace at their own level. They have been guarding their crops and houses in shifts to save their properties from getting destroyed by the riotous monkeys who run amok in a group of 40- 50 all the time. The result is that almost every house in the two political constituencies of Saharsa has either sling shots or bamboo sticks to drive away the monkeys.
Destroying crops
But, now the patience of the villagers is over. They have announced to vote for only those candidates who rid them of the menace. “We were left cheated in every election by the candidates who never bothered to look at our condition after getting our votes. But, now we have decided to vote for only those candidates who free us from the menace of monkeys,” said Ashutosh Jha, a resident of Padri village in Saharsa district.
He said the monkeys had been posing a great threat to their survival chances by trampling their seasonal crops and also destroying the fruits likemangoeswhich have been the main sources of their income in the absence of employment opportunities. “But the problem is that we can’t kill these monkeysdue to theWildlifeAct,” he rues. Anshu Mishra, a resident of Bangaon village in the same district, said the monkeys have virtually let loose a reign of terror in the areas. “Once, we drove them away from the areas using bamboo sticks and sling shots but very soon they lay siege to the main road for hours. Now, we have made the monkey men ace the main poll issue inthis election. We are telling only one thing to the candidates reaching us for our support — Free us from monkeys and get our votes,” Anshu said. According to the local villagers, more than 50 villages in the district are badly affected by the terror of monkeys.