Forest department to give simian sterilisation another try

NEW DELHI: After receiving no bids for monkey sterilisation the last two times a tender was issued, the capital’s forest department will be taking out the third and final tender in the first week of March. If there are no takers this time as well, corporations may be allocated the funds for sterilisation, said officials.
The NGO or agency selected will be provided a budget of Rs 7 crore to capture or sterilise monkeys in the capital. However, if there are again no bids, the forest department says they will ask Delhi high court to allocate the budget to municipal corporations who have the requisite staff requirement to carry out sterilisations on a large scale.

“The bidding process will take place before the high court hearing on the matter takes place. If we find takers, the court will be informed of the same. Otherwise, corporations will be suggested as an option,” said a senior forest official.

At present, sterilisation will be carried out on until immuno-contraception vaccines are tested and made ready to be used directly. The vaccine is being tested by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and National Institute of Immunology jointly, however, the process may take nearly three years.

The sterilisation process, meanwhile, has been divided into three phases, with Rs 7 crore to be allotted by the Centre for the first phase with an aim to capture around 8,000 monkeys, followed by the next two phases targeting 8,000 and 9,000 monkeys.

The department said they have already been working on an action plan for the process, under which the three municipal corporations and the New Delhi Municipal Council will each be required to designate a hospital for sterilising monkeys. “There is acute staff shortage in the forest department, and the corporations at present have the infrastructure to sterilise monkeys as well,” said an official.

There are 25,000 monkey in Delhi at present, with nearly 20,000 of these relocated to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. The forest department has been taking monkeys captured in the city to the sanctuary for over a decade, following a Delhi high court order. The department also provides the simians nearly 2,500 kg of food per day.