Himachal seeks to rein in monkeys

September 21st, 2011 - 9:42 pm ICT by IANS  

Shimla, Sep 21 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Wednesday requested the central government to allow it to employ people under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to check monkey menace in the state.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal told a visiting Rajya Sabha panel here to allow the state to employ locals in villages to shoo away monkeys from agricultural fields, a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said.

The Rajya Sabha committee, headed by Birender Baihya, is touring the state to study implementation of the MGNREGS.

Thousands of farmers in Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Mandi and Kangra districts have incurred losses due to the marauding monkeys.

As per forest department estimates, more than 900,000 farmers are badly affected by the simians. Monkeys, numbering over 300,000, target mainly cereal and fruit crops.

Related Stories

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Business |

Subscribe