The Indian capital grapples with its simian invasion

By M.R. Narayan Swamy Oct 24, 2007, 8:16 GMT

New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) After the holy cows, monkeys now seem to have the run of the Indian capital. They are all over - from the presidential palace to residential neighbourhoods. But despite causing the death of the city's deputy mayor and biting thousands, the simians still seem to enjoy the quiet hospitality of most locals.

The authorities are at their wit's end. With the Commonwealth Games only three years away, Delhi's administrators are grappling with a crisis they have never faced: what to do with the thousands of monkeys that are perennially hungry and have made every bit of the sprawling city their home?

The administration says it is doing what it can. It is frantically hunting for monkey catchers all over India, mainly in Tamil Nadu. It has steeply hiked payment for every trapped monkey to Rs.450 ($10). Thousands of monkeys that fall in the net are being transported to forests in Delhi and beyond. Yet the problem refuses to go away.

Just how serious the situation is came to the fore over the weekend when Delhi's Deputy Mayor, Jeet Singh Baweja, 56, sustained serious head injuries and died after falling off from the terrace of his house when he tried to defend himself against a horde of aggressive monkeys.

The problem has turned into an epidemic.

Delhi Metro has taken measures to prevent monkeys from getting on to their swanky trains. Some officials have suggested that the monkeys be shipped to Central Asia.

A frustrated Delhi High Court, which earlier ordered the authorities to end the monkey menace by June, refused Monday to revisit the issue. 'We are barely able to bring relief to humans. We cannot afford to look into the case of monkeys now,' Chief Justice M.K. Sharma observed.

And in a society where millions revere the animal because they see it as the living embodiment of Hindu monkey god Hanuman, Mayor Arti Mehra conveniently washes her hands off the epidemical problem.

Veterinary Officer V.K. Singh, who is with Mehra's Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), has gone a step ahead.

'We are responsible for domestic animals,' he said, classifying the Rhesus macaque, the most common species of monkeys roaming the capital, as a wild animal - and thus not his department's baby.

'Delhi has always had monkey inhabiting its forest cover. But with increasing urbanisation, monkeys too have evolved into a city variety,' he explained. Most people would readily agree.

Today monkeys can be seen on numerous streets and in entire neighbourhoods. They appear to have overcome the fear of man. Traffic is forced to halt in the heart of the city when the monkeys - the babies clinging to their mothers -- sprint across the roads.

In some areas, people have been forced to barricade their houses to keep away the marauding monkeys, which decamp with clothes hung out to dry, take away cooked food from kitchens and even snatch mobile telephones from unsuspecting pedestrians.

A few government offices have their windows permanently barred to prevent monkeys from damaging or escaping with official files.

When foreign dignitaries come calling, security personnel have to keep an eye on monkeys at the British-built Rashtrapati Bhavan to make sure that there is no unsavoury interruption to pompous welcome ceremonies at the presidential palace.

'The monkey menace is a man-made problem - because we have not been able to manage them properly,' green activist Iqbal Malik told IANS. 'It is time the government set up a dedicated central body that can help solve this problem.'

No one seems to know just how many monkeys are there in Delhi. The figures range from 10,000 to 20,000. A small figure, some feel, for a city with some 15 million people but enough to cause havoc.

The animals attack and bite thousands each year in Delhi. Dinesh Sharma, a veterinary officer with MCD, said he and his colleagues treat nearly 2,000 cases annually. He added that many victims go to other hospitals.

Monkey bites cause wounds that can often lead to skin problems, rabies and bacterial infection and very occasionally renal and liver failure. In some cases, the bites, if not treated immediately, can prove fatal.

Said R. Kumar, another doctor: 'In some cases the victims need to be treated for as long as six months.'

Yet people can be seen feeding monkeys in many parts of the capital, particularly on Tuesdays, when Hindus pray to god Hanuman. Experts say one reason the monkeys have made Delhi their home is because of the easy availability of food. The government has declared it illegal to feed monkeys. But who is listening?

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service