Hema raises monkey menace issue in House, gets support

Agra Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Mathura Hema Malini raised the long pending issue of monkey menace in the twin religious cities of Mathura and Vrindavan in

Agra Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Mathura Hema Malini raised the long pending issue of monkey menace in the twin religious cities of Mathura and Vrindavan in Parliament on Thursday, calling for early and effective measures to tackle the ‘alarming’ situation.

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She suggested that the forest department should set up a Monkey Safari and shift the simians there, according to inputs provided by the MP’s media representative here.

To note, monkey menace plagues almost the entire Braj region, including Agra, Firozabad, Kasganj. However, it is most pronounced in Mathura-Vrindavan. Two women died in a monkey attack in Mathura in March this year. In December 2018, another woman died in a similar attack in Mathura. A 40-year-old labourer in Shikohabad town of Firozabad died after monkeys attacked him in November 2018. Several deaths were also reported in Agra.

The Mathura Police had made special arrangements and posted cops on roof top when former President Pranab Mukherjee visited Vrindavan to offer prayers at Bankey Bihari Temple.

The MP’s media representative shared that in her statement in Parliament, Hema Malini complained that often the issue related with monkeys was taken in a lighter vein but the situation was grave because many people had lost their lives in Vrindavan, a city very much affected by the menace of the pesky primates.

“Vrindavan used to be a land with high density of forests but now it is a concrete jungle. The devotees visiting the temple town feed monkeys with edibles including Mathura peda , soft drinks and kachori etc which makes them ill. The experiment to sterilise these monkeys made them more violent and many lost their lives in monkey attacks,” the BJP MP said.

“Like humans, these monkeys also have the right to live, so a solution is needed for the issue. The forest department can come up with a Monkey Safari to relocate these simians but there should be trees and plants with edibles,” she said.

Hema Malini got support from another MP Chirag Paswan who expressed concern over rampant deforestation leaving even Lutyen’s Delhi plagued by monkey menace.

Senior TMC parliamentarian from West Bengal Sudip Bandopadhayay informed that he too had been a victim of monkeys in Vrindavan.

It may be recalled that recently district magistrate of Mathura Sarvagya Ram Mishra allocated 25 acres land in Chaumuhan area on the outskirts of the temple town, where monkeys from urban areas would be relocated.

However, the idea is still on paper and needs to be implemented to solve the monkey menace.

He had also said monkey rescue centres would be set up for the treatment of simians.

“Monkeys caught from urban areas cannot be sent directly to the proposed forest area. Those suffering from tuberculosis or other communicable diseases will first be treated,” the DM had said, inviting suggestions on the proposal for curtailing the reproductive capacity of the monkeys caught.

During wildlife counting for 2019, 21,707 monkeys were traced in Vrindavan, Goverdhan, Barsana, Nandgaon and Gokul in Mathura district.