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JAMMU: Amid outrage over the monkey menace destroying crops, Jammu and Kashmir govt on Tuesday informed the assembly it is not planning to launch a sterilisation drive to curb the simian population, even as it conceded that the threat remains a major headache across Jammu region.The govt, however, said a range of steps are being rolled out to tackle the problem, from pushing farmers towards monkey-resistant crops such as turmeric, ginger, and lemongrass to promoting boundary plantation of ladyfinger. Farmers are also being encouraged to install solar fencing, use monkey-deterrent devices and stop feeding the animals, the govt said.BJP’s Nagrota MLA Devyani Rana raised the issue in the assembly, stating that monkeys are ravaging crops in her constituency and posing a growing threat to public safety. She pressed for sterilisation, relocation, compensation and serious preventive interventions.Rana said that crop diversification may be a sound agricultural strategy, but farmers cannot be expected to absorb transition costs without institutional backing.“International and domestic experiences suggest that sterilisation must be large-scale, continuous and professionally monitored to produce a measurable demographic impact. Sporadic interventions yield negligible results,” she added.Official figures show that around 2,200 hectares of agricultural land in Nagrota alone have been affected by monkey-related crop damage, including fruit orchards.BJP MLA from Udhampur West, Pawan Gupta, warned that failure to launch a monkey sterilisation programme would lead to a serious situation in Jammu. “Thousands of kanals of land in my constituency are lying vacant because farmers are afraid to grow crops due to monkeys. Even at my own house in Udhampur, 40 to 50 monkeys gather every evening,” Gupta said.“It is said animals sleep in the evening, but these monkeys don’t. They should be moved back towards forest areas,” he said, adding that govt inaction would force many more farmers to abandon agriculture.
