Despite spending lakhs, Panjab University fails to curb monkey menace

Even after spending approximately Rs 11 lakhs to control the monkey menace on the PU campus in the past two years, the authorities have failed to combat the issue. Instead, the problem has grown bigger.

There is no end to the complaints from the students and the hostellers who have been bearing the brunt of monkey menace everyday.

Sources from the PU, told Hindustan Times that an amount of Rs 47,000 was being released among six to seven persons per month from the past two years to tackle monkey menace on the campus. However, no results can be witnessed.

Emanual Nahar, dean students welfare (DSW) said, “Earlier we had kept three-four people to keep a check only on hostels but then we increased the number to six for the entire university, keeping in mind the demands from the student bodies’. This amount was released from the hostel funds but now since all the funds have been transferred to FDO, the university will have to manage paying the salaries on its own level. Also, we need to take a strict action in this regard.”

“I have not experienced any decline in the number of monkeys on the campus even after these precautions. Rather, the monkeys have expanded their families,” said, Siya Minocha, senior president of National students’ Union of India (NSUI).

She added, “On behalf of the students, we have been writing to the authorities to take care of this issue but there has been no response.”

“We have received complaints from students who have found monkey waste in the water tanks. Besides, some students were even infected with rabies disease because of this,” said Hardik Ahluwalia, a student leader from Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU).

Harmandeep Singh, spokesperson of Students for Society (SDS) also echoed distressing claims of monkey menace on the PU campus.

“There have been problems in the hostels due to monkeys. There are days when they keep sitting in the corridors or when they enter the hostel with a gang. It leads to chaos in the hostels and if by chance, a room remains opened, then be it a bed sheet, clothes or anything, nothing is saved.”

Earlier, the university had hired three langurs to chase away the monkeys.

For this, the university was spending Rs 6,000 on each langur. However, the audit department raised objections on this expenditure. Following this, the services were discontinued.

In 2015, the engineering department was also asked to place an order of ultrasound repellents on pilot basis. Depending on the results the varsity was to purchase more monkey repellents but the machine caused disturbance in the department, due to which, it was also removed.

The fear of a monkey had even forced a student of girl’s hostel number 3 to jump off from the first floor of the hostel in October 2015, which had led to a fracture in her leg.