DMC captures 36 monkeys in 2 months as menace persists

Dehradun: The Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), tasked under a 2023 govt order with capturing and relocating monkeys straying into residential areas, has captured and relocated 36 of them since the programme began in March, officials said.Earlier, complaints related to the monkey menace were handled by the forest department. Officials said the work took nearly three years to begin due to a lack of trained manpower and technical expertise.“We still do not have a local unit equipped to carry this out. Based on quotations provided by the forest department, a Chidiyapur-based company has been carrying out the drives across all 100 wards,” said senior veterinary officer Dr Varun Agarwal.Officials said complaints received directly by the corporation, as well as through the helpline and CM portal, are being addressed on priority. In March, two rounds of the drive led to the capture of 17 and 14 monkeys respectively, followed by five in April. DMC spent Rs 1,250 per animal.A senior official said there is no monkey shelter in Dehradun, due to which captured animals are first taken to Chidiyapur for examination and then relocated to the nearest forest range from where they were captured. Injured monkeys also cannot be provided immediate assistance, the official added.Among the localities facing the most issues are Tehri House, Rajpur Road, Azabpur, Indra Nagar, Mothrowala, Bengali Kothi and the railway station area.Agarwal said the final tender for monkey capture is expected to be completed by June. Officials added that complaints related to monkey menace have declined. “There were 59 complaints between Dec and March-end, and only three remain pending now,” he said.“Monkeys have always been around. The real problem is that people continue feeding them, whether on highways or in residential areas. Despite repeated warnings, it is still happening, because of which monkeys have started entering homes and conflict cases have increased,” said Rajpur resident Manjushree Goyal.