Simian menace makes life hell for Konott residents

Monkeys roam around their premises, destroying crops

A monkey feeding from a cooking vessel stolen from a house at Konott in Karanthur grama panchayat in Kozhikode. Photo: K. Ragesh

The residents of the Konott area around the Thurayil Kavu Bhagavathi temple at Karanthur in the district are faced with an unusual daily challenge — keeping a constant vigil against dozens of monkeys that roam around their house premises snatching valuables and destroying their belongings.

Let alone food crops or fruits that grow in the backyards, the monkeys do not spare even clothes left to dry or food items kept in our kitchens, say the residents.

Hundreds of monkeys live on the premises of the Thurayil Kavu temple, besides in small groups in different parts of the area. The monkeys used to live only in the

Kavu spread across nine-and-a-half acres of land, feeding on different varieties of fruits and nuts available there, say the residents.

From Kavu

They began to venture out to the neighbourhoods probably when they fell short of food items, says Koliyedath Ramesh, secretary of the temple committee. “Once a group of monkeys comes out of the

Kavu , the group will never be allowed back to the woods by those living in the Kavu ,” he says.

It is the monkeys that live outside the

Kavu that make life ‘extremely hard’ for the residents, says P. Shobhana, a housewife. None of the 200 residents in the area have a single plantain, tapioca or elephant yam cultivated at their backyard for fear of monkeys.

“I have forgotten the days when I got some coconuts from my land. The monkeys pluck and eat them while they are still tender,” says Sudhi Cheroramannil. “This is a struggle we have been living with for the past several years,” says Shobhana Pandarakkandy, a homemaker. “They not only steal our food and destroy our crops but also pull down our houses,” she says, showing broken pieces of roof tiles.

Tired of the monkey menace, the residents are now planning to bring the issue to the attention of the authorities. “We will be relieved if the forest authorities can shift at least a quarter of them to somewhere in the forest,” says K.C. Pahaladan, another resident.