Gypsies cash in on fund-hit forest dept’s inability to catch monkeys

According to sources, the Forest department acting on complaints, had hired gypsies to catch the simians at Valapadi village near Ranipet. 

Taking advantage of the public’s fear and charging as high as Rs 1000 for catching a single monkey when it is otherwise charged around Rs 200, the officials rue that they often have to request the public for contributions and use personal funds to meet the gypsies’ wages.

The issue, however, doesn’t seem to stop there, with the forest officials doubting that even if the trapped monkeys are released into the forest, they invariably return to their old haunt – thereby starting the vicious cycle all over again.

The issue came to light when a group of langurs-numbering around 50-made life hell for farmers of Thimmanachari Kuppam on the Pootuthakku–Melakuppam Road, about 12km away from Vellore town.

The simian troop, which invaded the village two months ago, now refuses to go away. “We [initially] considered them as avatars of Hanuman, the monkey god. However, the concern wore off when the langurs started harassing locals and damaging crops in the locality,” said a farmer who preferred to not be named.

The monkeys enter unguarded houses and damage household articles, searching for goodies and have also started attacking those children walking on the road alone.

The main problem is that “the monkeys hunt for fruits and vegetables in the houses and fields, and nothing which appears before their eyes is spared,” said a woman of the locality.

As the locality has a sizeable number of mango groves, the owners are now anxious about the harvest, as the monkeys have already started consuming and damaging the buds which transform into fruit, say locals.

With the locality coming under the Arcot Forest range, locals have requested the Forest department staff to initiate action to ensure that their crops are not affected.

What adds to the woes of the locals is that parrots, too, have become a nuisance.

The terrain ensures that the birds raid the cholam crop and fly away after having their fill. With parrots from other areas, too, raiding the area, farmers are now readying to catch them too as even scarecrows seem to have no effect, locals said.