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The
Delhi High Court recently asked the Delhi Government about their plans to deal
with the monkey menace in the metropolis. The matter was last heard sometime in
January last but so far no progress has been achieved. The Capital seems to
have been overrun by monkeys and people are afraid of them as the simians have
become aggressive and frequently chase elderly people or even bite them.
Things
have become so alarming that a two judge Bench of the High Court said that the
matter of contraception of monkeys cannot brook any delay. On the other hand
the Environment Ministry briefed the Court that it would take seven more years
to drive out the monkeys. The Court gave a glib reposte to it by saying that by
that time they would all be driven out of Lutyen’s Delhi.
The
Court’s reposte came when the Environment Ministry deposed before it that it
was waiting for release of funds for research on immune-contraception and that
it would take another seven years after funds are allotted to research and
develop the vaccine. The Court did not like it and said some African countries
have a vaccine and we are still talking of funds to develop one. It said that
the Government should think of importing the vaccine in view of the desperate
situation caused by the exploding population of monkeys in the capital.
It
seems Asola sanctuary near Delhi where the city’s monkeys are relocated is now
spilling over and they frequently raid neighbouring colonies and farm houses.
While
Delhi is dealing with monkey menace we in Bhopal are faced up with the stray
dog menace. A recent report in the local press lamented deaths due to rabies in
the city. Apparently two deaths occurred within twenty days of one another. The
newspaper criticized the local authorities since as much as Rs. 2 billion have
been spent to deal with the menace of stray dogs but there has been no respite
from it.
This
is largely true. The locals have to face the menace on a daily basis. Groups of
a couple of dozen or more of these free ranging dogs move around or lie around on the
streets and in the markets oblivious of the traffic that passes by. At night
they become active and bark all through the dark hours picking up fights. In
case a motor bike came their way they give it a hell-for-leather chase. They
have been known to have attacked old women and infants.
They
have multiplied, shall we say, exponentially, as stray dogs cannot now be
liquidated, thanks to Mrs. Maneka Gandhi. She comes down heavily on any
municipality that kills stray dogs. That would be well and good as also kind
only if she provided adequate resources – financial and technical – to keep the
population under control. Since the staff for sterilisation is insufficient to
deal with the enormity of the problem the numbers of stray dogs have been
merrily increasing. While the human population of Bhopal is reported to be
around 20 lakhs there are 2 or three lakh stray dogs – that is, for every 10
humans there is one or more stray dogs.
While
Hindus in general have a soft corner for monkeys, considering them, as they do,
as representative of the Monkey God Hanuman, the dogs are a different kettle of
fish. Mrs Maneka Gandhi’s express orders prohibit killing of stray dogs. No
wonder, such as they are, stray dogs are making merry in urban India attacking
all and sundry. Kerala reportedly had the worst of it as several infants were
picked up, taken away and eaten up by these street bullies.
Quite
surprisingly, one sees reports every other day of a tiger being poached. It is
a protected animal and yet it is killed for money and many a times the
perpetrators of the crimes are not even apprehended. Likewise another protected
animal that has had the wrong end of the stick is the leopard. Because of
shrinking habitatat poor fellows have to come looking for prey close into urban
areas and get brutally killed. The irony is that while we are not able to
protect a rare animal in the wild we are protecting hundreds of thousands of
those which, in fact, need not be protected as there are far too many of them.
Trust this country for all the decisions that are generally topsy-turvy.
If
nothing drastic is done in a jiffy urban India will soon become a huge and
happy hunting ground for of free ranging dogs and simians.
*Photo from internet
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