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CISF jawan at Taj Mahal to chase monkey by gulel

The monkey menace has been found growing at Taj Mahal and a foreign lady tourist was injured in such attack by monkeys last year. Time and again, these monkeys were causing inconvenient moments for visitors beside causing damage to structure of monument.

Published on: Jan 25, 2019, 09:50:33 IST
Hindustan Times, Agra | By
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Beside the modern arms they possess, the jawans of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are now to be equipped with ‘gulel’ (slingshot) to meet out the growing monkey menace at monument of love – Taj Mahal. The jawans at eastern and western gate beside other high value location are equipped by these slingshots.

Boards are being placed on premises of Taj asking tourists to keep distance from monkeys and avoid feeding them. Yet need was felt for such step at Taj Mahal. (AFP)
Boards are being placed on premises of Taj asking tourists to keep distance from monkeys and avoid feeding them. Yet need was felt for such step at Taj Mahal. (AFP)

The monkey menace has been found growing at Taj Mahal and a foreign lady tourist was injured in such attack by monkeys last year. Time and again, these monkeys were causing inconvenience for visitors beside causing damage to structure of monument.

‘The decision was taken to find a practical solution and providing ‘gulel’ to jawans of CISF located at gates and high value location where foreigners are frequent. Amused by monkeys, these foreigners click their photograph and invite trouble’ stated a CISF official.

‘The goods included edibles carried by tourists are deposited at gates on eastern and western side and monkeys concentrate here to take them away. Initially about a dozen of CISF jawan are provided with these slingshots and stationed at location like one towards mosque and Dusshera ghat in Taj Mahal where from they move in group’ he stated while talking about the new experiment.

Boards are being placed on premises of Taj asking tourists to keep distance from monkeys and avoid feeding them. Yet need was felt for such step at Taj Mahal.

Munawwar Ali, who has a shop at western gate of Taj, feels that step was a good one to have slingshot equipped CISF personnel.

‘It is right move but delayed one because many of the tourists have faced the inconvenience already’ stated Ali.

Rakesh Chauhan, the president of Hotel and Restaurant Association however advocates concrete measures for checking monkey menace.

‘These short term amateur measures are not in tune with monument like Taj. These monkeys should be trapped and sterilization should be undertaken to check their growth instead of such measures’ opined Chauhan.

  • Hemendra Chaturvedi
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Hemendra Chaturvedi

    Hemendra Chaturvedi is a senior journalist based at Agra. He covers eight districts of Agra and Aligarh division namely Agra, Mathura, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Aligarh, Etah, Kasganj and Hathras. He had been with HT since 1992 and has completed three decades of association with HT and has worked for Hindustan Times only all through his career of about 35 years. Having Masters in Chemistry, Hemendra is also a law graduate with diploma in Personnel Management and has utilised broad based academic qualifications in his indepth, accurate and high impact stories from this part of western Uttar Pradesh while being based in the city of Taj Mahal. In such long span of career with Hindustan Times, Hemendra Chaturvedi has led his team of reporters which was instrumental in bringing out supplements including Region Scan, Agra Live, HT City time to time and proven his leadership qualities and has made presence of HT felt in the region covered by him. In the process of time, Hemendra has attained expertise in a variety of beats, being sole reporter for HT and has covered Aligarh Muslim University, Taj Mahal centric tourism, religiously sensitive city of Mathura and had been witness to Agra Summit having attendance of top leaders of India and Pakistan.Read More