KHOTANG, Jan 13: Agonized by the terror of monkeys, locals of northern Khotang have started a campaign to chase the animals away by deploying a team.
The locals are tired of losing their crops and vegetables to monkeys. Especially those living in various villages of wards 3,4 and 5 of Keplasgadhi Rural Municipality and Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality-11 have been facing the "monkey terror".
Khagendra Gurung, chief of Keplashgadhi Rural Municipality-3 informed Republica that the locals from various villages started the campaign to scare off the monkeys Since Friday. Each house has donated Rs 200 so that they could deploy a team for this purpose.
This team will chase the monkeys away across the Dudkoshi River making sure that they do not return anytime soon. It has been made mandatory for at least one person from each household to join the monkey-chasing team. Ward chief Gurung said that the locals are ready to pay any amount to get rid of the monkey menace. As it is illegal to kill monkeys, locals just chase them away.
On December 2, locals in the district headquarters of Diktel had formed a committee to control and manage the monkeys. No matter how far they are chased, monkeys still manage to come back. This is why some locals think it is meaningless to run after them.
It would have been easier for the people to deal with the monkeys if they did not visit in troops. According to the locals, the monkeys come in a troop of 100-200 and stray into the human settlement areas. They do not just scare the people by capering on their roofs but also ruin their crops completely. Many people have migrated to other places due to the 'monkey terror'. In the past, people used to fire gunshots to scare the monkeys away. However, that has been banned now. People also set traps to catch monkeys. Locals have repeatedly submitted applications to the District Administration Office (DAO) seeking a permanent solution to the monkey terror. But nothing has been done so far.