Life-size cutouts of grey langurs known to scare off other smaller species of monkeys are being put up across various localities in Prayagraj ahead of Mahakumbh-2025 to curb monkey menace.
The exercise by locals and officials is focused on localities known to suffer from monkey menace including areas around Daraganj, Pritam Nagar, Abubakarpur, Kandhaipur, Subedarganj, Mirapur and Dufferin Hospital. Apart from these localities of the city, people are also troubled by monkeys at Naini and near Chheoki railway stations where too this exercise is being undertaken, said officials.
The importance of the move can be gauged from the fact that around five dozen people have reportedly suffered monkey bites across the city in these localities in the past just one week.
Langurs are an aggressive type of monkeys with long tails and dark faces. Their cutouts have been used in other Indian cities including Delhi suffering from the menace of Rhesus monkeys, running across busy roads without warning and often attacking unsuspecting pedestrians or residents.
“A monkey bit my child, and I had to rush him to Dufferin Hospital on Friday. It was a scary experience for not just my son but also the entire family”, said Rashmi, a resident of Khuldabad.
{{/usCountry}}“A monkey bit my child, and I had to rush him to Dufferin Hospital on Friday. It was a scary experience for not just my son but also the entire family”, said Rashmi, a resident of Khuldabad.
{{/usCountry}}Now we too have put up a langur cutout on the roof of our house, she added.
A resident of Daraganj, Pankaj Pathak said that to keep monkeys at bay, he has put up net in his balcony. “I have also put up a cut out of a langur recently as an added deterrent on my terrace,” he added.
To escape the terror of monkeys, the railway have placed cutouts of langurs on pillars, platform sheds, water tanks, entry roads etc at Naini and Chheoki railway stations. “The aim of the exercise is to protect the passengers and the railway property from the monkey menace. The cutouts also ensure that the passengers and visitors at the railway stations are alert against the monkeys,” said chief public relations officer of North Central Railway (NCR) Himanshu Shekhar.
DFO, Prayagraj Arvind Kumar Yadav said that the responsibility of catching monkeys creating disturbance or attacking people lies with the municipal corporation and other municipal bodies as well as Gram Pradhans in villages. In this regard, instructions were issued by the special secretary environment forest on January 9, 2023. Under this, these bodies can get the work of releasing monkeys in the forests done by taking the services of trained monkey catchers, he added.