‘Civic bodies failed to find any monkey catcher’

The municipal corporations in the Capital have not been able to find a single monkey catcher in recent years despite widespread advertisements in the newspapers of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and even as far as Tamil Nadu.

In a fresh affidavit filed before the Delhi High Court, the Department of Forest And Wildlife said the three civic bodies have expressed their inability to find monkey catchers despite increasing the rate of catching monkey from ₹1,200 to ₹2,400 per monkey.

Sterilisation project

Last year, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation had told the High Court that they have not been able to find monkey catchers even after the advertisements since 2014. Advocate Meera Bhatia, who has filed the petition in public interest in 2001 seeking directions to the authorities on the same said that she has been fighting for the cause for 17 years now.

While submitting a timeline for sterilisation project to curb the monkey menace, the Department of Forest and Wildlife admitted before the court that it does not have an estimation of total number of monkeys or their number is reproductive age group requiring sterilisation. The Department submitted that it will carry out the population census of monkeys within 180 days, which will also include a study on demography of monkey troops.

The Department said mobile sterilisation units could be deployed across the city to address the population goals. It said one mobile unit could sterilise 7,000-8,000 monkeys per year.

It also said the government and civic agencies including Delhi Police will have to be an active partner in creating awareness and education among the residents of Delhi about monkey attacks avoidance behaviour, monkey feeding regulations and the sterilisation of monkeys.