HYDERABAD: A massive monkey trapping operation is being taken up by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials in the city.
Ten monkey-catching professionals have been pressed into service by GHMC and 20 automatic cages have been installed in different parts of the city, in which fruits and groundnuts have been placed to lure and catch the monkeys.
Though monkeys have been troubling the residents of Hyderabad over the past few months, GHMC officials were unable to take steps to curb the menace earlier, due to various reasons. But with Telangana forest department giving permission to GHMC to relocate the monkeys caught in the city into the forests of Warangal district, officials have jumped into action.
“As complaints about monkeys creating nuisance have been pouring in from various areas in the city, we have been regularly conducting monkey catching operations for the past few months. Professionals appointed by us had caught more than 154 monkeys in the last six months. But we had a problem as to where to leave the caught monkeys,” said Venkateshwar Reddy, chief veterinary officer of GHMC.
With Telangana forest department giving us permission to release the caught monkeys in forests of Warangal, we have stepped up monkey catching operations this week, he added. Monkey menace is a peculiar problem faced by GHMC officials, as apart from catching monkeys, taking care of them till the forest department gives permission is burdensome. GHMC maintains separate enclosures to keep the caught monkeys at places like Padmaraonagar.
Though monkeys are spread in many parts of the city, residents in areas like West Marredpally, Padmaraonagar, Tirumalgherry, Bollarum, Secunderabad, Himayatnagar, Nallakunta, Vidyanagar, DD Colony, among others have been facing severe problems due to them.
“Though we would like to open our doors and windows for air and light, we are unable to, because of these monkeys. We cannot even dry our clothes outside or leave shoes, for fear of being torn or destroyed. We keep all doors and windows shut. We are also worried about leaving kids outdoors due to this menace,” said Nikhil Krishna, a resident of Himayatnagar.
Complaints like these have been common for the past six months but with the latest monkey catching operation, residents may expect some relief soon. According to officials estimates, over 250 monkeys are yet to be caught in Hyderabad and after completing the task, they will be relocated to Warangal forests.
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