Ghaziabad: 2 residents move Allahabad high court over human-monkey conflict

The petition was filed by Raj Nagar residents Vineet Sharma, a social activist, and Prajakta Singhal, a BTech student

Ghaziabad: Two residents of Ghaziabad have moved the Allahabad high court in a public interest litigation (PIL) to highlight the issue of human-monkey conflict due to an alleged uncontrolled, and exponential rise of monkey population in the city.

The petition has sought directions with respect to relocation/rescue of monkeys to forests/forest-like areas in vicinity in a time-bound manner. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The PIL, according to the high court’s cause list, was listed for hearing at the Allahabad high court on Tuesday, and further directions are awaited.

The petition that identifies 12 respondents, including the Ghaziabad district magistrate, was filed by Raj Nagar residents Vineet Sharma, a social activist, and Prajakta Singhal, a BTech student.

“The petition raises the issue of health and safety risk to residents, especially the persons with disabilities, senior citizens, women, and children who are vulnerable and unable to defend themselves against any aggression or attack by the monkeys in residential areas. The residents also face damage to household items, vegetation, plants, and other items during aggression by monkeys. Different agencies have basically failed to address the issues,” said Sharma.

The plea has also referred a June 25, 2016 report of the Hindustan Times, titled, “More monkeys in urban areas of Ghaziabad than rural parts” that talked of the presence of 5,341 sightings of monkeys during a census conducted by the forest department in 2016, and reported 1,683 sightings of monkeys (Macaca speciosa) in the rural area of Modi Nagar and 3,658 in the urban, Ghaziabad range.

The petition has also listed the affected areas including Raj Nagar, Kavi Nagar, Vaishali, Vasundhara, Shastri Nagar, Kamla Nehru Nagar, Govindpuram, Avantika, Chiranjeev Vihar, Vivekanand Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Navyug Market, Bajaria, Vijay Nagar, Patel Nagar (I and II), Lohia Nagar, Arya Nagar, Nand Gram, Sahibabad, Brij Vihar, Surya Nagar, Shyam Park, Lajpat Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Shalimar Garden, Kaushambi, Raj Nagar Extension, Loni, Murad Nagar, Modi Nagar and Khoda.

The petition contends that there are about 55,000 monkeys in Ghaziabad and the number is on the rise.

It added that monkey (Rhesus macaque) was delisted/denotified as a wild animal via a notification dated December 19, 2022, of the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, and no census was constituted thereafter.

The petition has sought directions with respect to relocation/rescue of monkeys to forests/forest-like areas in vicinity in a time-bound manner; drawing of a plan for afforestation, with primary focus on fruit-bearing trees, along river Hindon and other stretches; to arrange/provide for adequate feed/food for monkeys and set up adequate number of modern infirmaries and veterinary health-care centres/hospitals with latest equipment and well-trained manpower.

When contacted about filing the petition, officials of the Ghaziabad district administration said that they were seeking clear directions after the monkey was denotified as a wild animal.

Officials aware of the development said that the local bodies do not have clear directions to act in such circumstances, while the forest department has issued a circular that the local bodies will look after the issue.

“I have asked different departments to assess the situation and take required measures in this regard. As of now, there is also no survey of monkeys at present to assess the number of monkeys. We are working in this regard,” said district magistrate Deepak Meena.