Lucknow: In compliance with a high court order, the forest department has prepared an interim plan to control monkey menace in villages. The action plan encompasses immediate, preventive and long-term measures, said a govt release. Immediate measures include identifying areas prone to human-monkey conflict in municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats within a period of one month; assessing the population of monkeys responsible for conflicts; designating nodal officers to receive information regarding incidents of conflict; issuing helpline numbers and their publicity and identifying and registering individuals or organisations possessing the requisite expertise to capture monkeys. Preventive measures are about conducting public awareness programmes; organising outreach initiatives; implementing effective waste management systems; planting fruit-bearing trees; and, in deference to religious sentiments, identifying and designating specific areas where individuals may feed monkeys. Long-term measures will focus on implementing technical reports aimed at limiting monkey population; providing lifelong sanctuary to captured monkeys and identifying areas severely affected by conflict. To deter monkeys from entering populated areas in search of food, the action plan directs local bodies to accord special priority to waste management within their respective jurisdictions and to organise targeted awareness campaigns across all affected regions. Priority will be given to releasing captured monkeys into forest areas, said the release. Instructions have been issued to all divisional forest officers (DFOs) and divisional directors to implement the measures across all affected areas.
