Hanamkonda: Villagers set up orchard for monkeys to keep them away

Villagers, who were vexed with the repeated damage being caused by the monkeys, approached the district administration and asked the officials to find a solution.

Hanamkonda: Villagers of Garmillapalli village of Inavolu mandal of the district, fed up with the monkey menace that was troubling them for long, came up with an innovative idea to tackle the issue by setting up an orchard on the outskirts of the village exclusively for the simians.

The villagers, who were vexed with the repeated damage being caused by the monkeys, approached the district administration and asked the officials to find a solution. The officials tried different conventional methods including laying traps, but none worked. Hence, the villagers suggested that if an orchard was set up on the outskirts of the village for the monkeys, they may not enter the village for food.

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The officials, after having a series of discussions with senior officers, decided to set up an orchard. Last year, the district administration with the help of villagers set up an orchard on a two acres of government land at a cost of Rs.2.85 lakh under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Today the orchard has mango, guava, custard apple, pomegranate and other fruit plants along with neem and tamarind trees.

The villagers claim that ever since the orchard has started bearing fruits, the monkeys have stopped coming to the village. Earlier, the monkeys often attacked passersby, stole fruits and vegetables and even entered homes.

The villagers lodged several complaints with the authorities who tried to control the situation but could not make much of a difference. They said that there were far too many monkeys in the locality and it was quite impossible to capture all.

So, to go about in a sustainable way, villagers decided to set up the orchard so that the simians could be kept away from the village. Now the district authorities are reportedly planning to set up orchards in other affected villages to tackle such monkey menace instances.