Residents Being Charged For Catching Monkeys

As reported by Sandeep Moudgal at deccanherald.com on October 2, 2009

A forest department decision to charge residents of Basavanagudi a fee for catching monkeys has made the people go bananas.

With no funds to attend to this monkey business, the forest department recently came up with a novel idea: residents of B P Wadia Road at Basavanagudi which, of late, has been bearing the brunt of a monkey menace, have to cough up Rs 20,000 each if they have to have a respite from simian trouble.

Venkatraman, a B P Wadia Road resident, said: “After I complained to the BBMP in June this year about the monkey menace in our locality, some forest officials and monkey-catchers were sent to do the job.” When a group of residents met a forest department official, they were allegedly asked to pay Rs 20,000 to the ‘contractors’ who would perform the job of trapping the troublesome primates.

Stunned by the proposition, Venkatraman filed a Right to Information (RTI) application with the forest department, seeking details on the decision to charge a fee to catch monkeys.

Addressed to the Chief Conservator of Forests, the application, filed on July 16, 2009, sought responses on the following questions:

Whether the Karnataka Municipality Act or any other rule authorised forest officials to charge a fee for catching monkeys in the city?

What was the total number of complaints on monkey menace the forest department had received in the past 12 months?

Since when have residents been asked to pay for such services and what was the total amount collected by the department in the past five years?

Source and Finale