HP govt urges Centre to declare monkeys ‘vermin’ for 1 more yr

Shimla, Aug 29 (PTI) With the six-month period of monkeysbeing declared ‘vermin’ within the Shimla MunicipalCorporation (SMC) limits coming to an end on September 14, theHimachal Pradesh government has urged the Union Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests (MoEF) to extend it by another year,officials said today. During the six-month period starting March 14, no monkeywas killed, the state government has told the Union ministry,claiming that necessary arrangements were now in place to dealwith the menace. The MoEF had declared monkeys ‘vermin’ for six months inrelaxation of section 62 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972 and the state government has now urged it to extend theperiod by one more year, officials said. The state government has started preparing a"comprehensive plan" to deal with the monkey menace and alsoto check their growing population, posing a threat to thelives and livelihood of the citizens, they added. The issue was raised during the Monsoon Session of theAssembly and the members, cutting across party lines, demandedthat the Forest Department set up a task force for killingmonkeys, which had destroyed crops and forced farmers toabandon cultivation at several places in the state. The monkey census of July, 2015 revealed that there wereabout 2,452 of the animals within the SMC limits and eightforest beats — Jakhu, Summer Hill, Glen, Kaithu, Khalini,Fagli, Tuti Kandi and Bharari — were identified as "endemicareas". It was on the basis of data provided by the WildlifeDepartment about concentration of monkeys in certain pocketsthat the MoEF had declared the species — Rhesus Macaque –vermin within the SMC limits. Principal Secretary (Forest and Environment) Tarun Kapoorsaid the department was looking at the issue in a"comprehensive" manner. PTI PCL RCRC