J. Ramulavva, a native of Nagarajupally village, is in her early 40s.
She has been working with dozens of others from her village as well as neighbouring villages voluntarily to strengthen the bund work of Ali Samudram Kunta to raise Rs. 2 lakh to arrest monkey menace in half-a-dozen villages of this mandal!
Monkey catchers
More than 2,000 monkeys are making life miserable for the residents of Akkannapally, Ghanapuram, Nanganoor, Khata, Ankshapur, Narmetta and Siddannapet for the past few years.
Vexed with the issue, the villagers led by TRS legislator from Siddipet T. Harish Rao, decided to employ monkey catchers who have promised to catch them and protect the crops for the next one year for a total payment of Rs. 2 lakh.
Crops destroyed
“Since the last four years I have left my 15 acre land uncultivated as hordes of monkeys used to destroy the crop. Though these are fertile lands, we are helpless,” said Azeez, a farmer of Narmetta.
Besides attacking the crops, the monkeys remove tiles on the rooftops, attack villagers, particularly women, and snatch away lunch boxes in the field.
While 600 farmers participated in the programme on Thursday, the number touched 1,000 on Friday.
Harish takes the lead
Mr. Harish Rao, who motivated the residents to participate in the Shramdan, said “Rs. 4.5 lakh is estimated cost of this work to strengthen the bund and we plan to execute this work and generate revenue to pay the monkey catchers.
“They have promised to trap the simians and leave them in Kataram and Mahamuttaram forest areas in Karimnagar district,” he said.
Mr. Harish said that he was planning similar revenue generating activities in other areas also which were facing similar problem.
