Daltonganj: Learning from their counterparts in Telangana, the officers of Medininagar forest division in the district are planning to set up a dedicated food court for monkeys. The move, officials said, would stop them from foraging into human settlements and raiding croplands.“There is a food court for monkeys in Kamareddy district in Telangana set up by forest department to control them,” Satyam Kumar, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of Medininagar, said. Department sources said the food court contains fruit bearing trees such as mangoes, Wood Apple, berries, and others which are liked by monkeys.Kumar also said the department is planning a massive plantation of tamarind trees to stop monkeys from straying into human pockets.Principal chief conservator of forest Sanjeev Kumar too conceded the problems of monkeys here. “We are aware of the monkey menace here besides the Nilgai issue. Efforts are on to control it,” he said.Farmers and veggie growers in the district said that they are hassled with regular monkey raids in their farmlands leading to losses.Sources in the Medininagar forest division said that Palamu district, spread over in 4,393 square kilometres as per 2011 Census count, have a handsome monkey population which frequently strays into human settlements for food.Kishore Pandey of Basna village, a social activist and a progressive farmer, said, “There is not a single day when monkeys do not come to fields. They are the new plunderers after Nilgai and elephant.” A housewife in Nawa Toli locality in Daltonganj said, “We have some guava trees. Monkeys devour the raw ones and leave nothing for us.”
