×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Parl demands monkey safari to end human-simian conflict

Last Updated 21 November 2019, 16:42 IST

A debate over monkey menace in Parliament on Thursday led to a demand for setting up of Monkey Safaris.

As the issue was raised by actor-turned-politician and BJP MP Hema Malini in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, some of the members of other parties recalled their personal ordeal with the simians in Delhi, Haridwar (Uttarakhand) and Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh).

Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Sudip Bandyopadhyay shared his personal experience, recalling how the simians “nicely” took away his spectacles when he was in Haridwar and “returned” it back to him only after they were offered some packets of Fruity by a shopkeeper nearby.

“The situation is very dangerous. People visit religious places and keep their belongings like prasad and spectacles inside their pockets due to monkey menace. You should take it seriously. It can be tacked by the government,” he added.

While the BJP member's demand was supported by several members cutting across the party line, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) member Chirag Paswan raised the issue of monkey menace in Delhi, saying children in Lutiyan's zone cannot go out in gardens because of the terror of monkeys.

“They bite and create troubles. It's a very serious issue in Delhi too. I thank Hema Malini ji for raising the issue,” he said.

Highlighting the problems being faced by the people in Mathura, her constituency, Malini told the Lower House that several people have died in “deadly attacks” by the monkeys in Vrindavan.

Doctors have sterilized the monkeys in Vrindavan and Mathura to control their population but this has, in turn, made them “extremely violent.”

“There used to be a dense forest in Vrindavan where monkeys lived happily in the past. But today forest has shrunk and urban settlements have increased. Due to this, hungry monkeys in search of food unleash a reign of terror in every house in the areas,” she said.

She also claimed that that the monkeys in the region have been suffering from some disease and passing it on to the people living in the area.

“Devotees visiting the place offer them (monkeys) Fruity, samosa, kachauri and peda from Mathura, consumption of which have made them sick. I demand that Monkey Safari should be made to keep these simians at one place. This will reduce the problems of both the monkeys and the people,” she added

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 21 November 2019, 16:29 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT