Red-faced monkeys not our problem, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav tells Assembly

BHOPAL: The red-faced monkeys of Madhya Pradesh, which are the single-biggest source of heartburn across cities and towns, are off the sarkari files and oversight.Anyone can catch them without worrying about securing the nod of the forest department. The state govt informed the Assembly last week that starting Feb 25, cities and towns bearing the brunt of the menace of the slippery red-faced monkeys, would have to deal with the matter at local levels as the forest department would bear no responsibility for it."Movement of monkeys is a natural process. In areas where monkeys are present, incidents such as injuring people and snatching food items from houses have been reported. Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, red-faced monkeys are kept outside its purview, therefore, no permission from the forest dept is required to capture them. Since red-faced monkeys are outside the purview of the Wildlife Act, the question of framing rules does not arise," the govt stated in a written reply in the House. The reply was in response to a question whether, in many rural and urban areas of MP, residents and school children were facing serious problems caused by red-faced monkeys? The questioning member, Congress MLA Vivek Vicky Patel, also wanted to know if there was any process to remove or control the monkeys from such areas? He also asked if there were any accidents or loss of life because of the monkey menace or attacks, and, if so, what efforts were being undertaken to address the problem?Chief minister Mohan Yadav, in his written reply, stated that instructions had been issued to all collectors and chief executive officers in August last year to take necessary action through local bodies/gram panchayats/municipal corporations/trained institutions in districts where red-faced monkeys are affecting public life, to capture them as required. "Since red-faced monkeys are outside the purview of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the question of framing rules does not arise," the reply read.Red-faced monkeys are commonly found in almost every corner of the state. Visitors to religious and popular tourist sites often complain of monkey menace, with some even registered through the CM helpline.