Green pockets with fruit-bearing trees being created to minimise monkey attacks

The wildlife department has planted around 6,000 saplings over 10 hectares area at the Air Force station in Sohna. Experts have called for large scale developments between sectors.

The Gurugram wildlife department has started plantation of fruit-bearing trees in the district to develop forest pockets in urban areas that can provide habitat to monkeys, birds and small animals, officials said on Thursday.

Repeated monkey attacks have caused several injuries to residents. (HT Archive)

To kick off the initiative, the department has planted around 6,000 saplings over 10 hectares area at the Air Force station in Sohna. MS Malik, the chief conservator of forests for Gurugram circle, said that by planting fruit-bearing trees, the department is trying to develop habitats near urban areas as part of wildlife management.

“We are planting trees such as jamun, peepal (sacred fig), gular (cluster fig), shahtoot (mulberry), pilkhan (white fig) and others that are beneficial for wildlife. Along with ensuring the availability of food, these trees have the potential to become homes for birds, monkeys and other small animals. This can also help reduce monkey conflict in the cities,” said Malik.

Managing the population of monkeys in urban areas, especially Gurugram and Faridabad, has been difficult over the past few years with frequent attacks being reported by residents. In some instances, monkeys caused severe bruises and cuts. Earlier this month, two children in Sohna were injured in a monkey attack outside their house.

Environmentalists welcomed the move but said that a few such pockets would not solve the problem. “Planting fruit-bearing trees is definitely a good initiative and has good potential to manage man-animal conflict in the coming years, but this would help only when this is done on a large scale. Such plantations should be carried out near a cluster of sectors, as monkeys are found near the most common markets where food is easily available for them. This can also help increase the green cover of Gurugram that stands at 9% of its total area at present,” said Vaishali Chandra, a city-based environmentalist.