Many residential areas are full of monkeys, the court said.
Monkeys will take over the national capital, the irked Delhi High Court observed on Wednesday, rapping the Centre over the delay in taking a decision to import vaccines to sterilise the simians to control their growing population in the city and other parts of the country.
“A direction was passed in 2001 to deal with the monkey menace. Seventeen years have passed and you (government and civic bodies) are still busy constituting a committee to look into the issue of safety, security and efficacy of immune-contraception vaccine to control the population of monkeys in Delhi. By the time you come (up) with some plan, Delhi will be taken over by monkeys,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said.
It further observed that entire residential colonies are already crowded with monkeys, which will continue to procreate every day and not wait for a committee constituted by the Centre to take a decision on their birth control.
The bench also said monkeys are spreading viruses in different parts of the country, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and humans are being infected as a result.
The bench added that it was “hopelessly failing in making the government do its job”. The court reacted sharply after Additional Solicitor General Maninder Acharya informed it that a committee has been constituted to look into the issue of safety, security and efficacy of immune-contraception vaccine to control population of monkeys in the capital, since it cannot be decided “overnight”.
The high court also sought the assistance of Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). It noted that the ICMR, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, has conducted a study on controlling the birth rate of monkeys.
The court asked the government to file its status report with regard to the steps they take, on the next date of the hearing, April 25, and sought the presence of the head of ICMR that day.
The court was hearing a PIL filed through advocate Meera Bhatia, seeking directions to authorities to take steps to deal with the menace of monkeys and dogs in the city.