Row over catching of monkeys: HC seeks Delhi govt's reply

Catching monkeys is not a monkey business. It's a job of experts.
The South Delhi Municipal Committee has told the Delhi High Court that it cannot catch the simians and relocate them due to lack of monkey-catchers. It also said that this was the job of the Delhi government's wildlife department.
This submission led the high court today to seek the response of the AAP government on a plea demanding direction to its Wildlife Department to catch monkeys and relocate them to the Asola-Bhatti sanctuary in South Delhi.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notice to the concerned authorities and sought their replies by May 2.

The SDMC had moved an application seeking modification of the high court's March 14, 2007 direction to the municipality to catch monkeys and relocate them to the sanctuary.
The corporation, in its plea filed through advocate Rajan Tyagi, sought modification of the 2007 order to task the Wildlife Department of the Delhi government to do the job.

It claimed that under the Wildlife Protection Act, the Delhi government's Wildlife Department was the appropriate body to carry out the direction given in the HC order.
The corporation said it does not have the powers, nor the authority to do so, adding that it had put out several advertisements for recruiting monkey-catchers and had even increased to Rs 1,200 the amount to be paid to them, despite which no application has been received.

It also said it had written to the Chief Wildlife Wardens of the Delhi government, as also of states like Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, to provide monkey catchers, but got no response from them.
Even cages were not provided by the Delhi government, the SDMC contended.
The SDMC said the "menace" of monkeys was increasing in residential areas near the Asola-Bhatti sanctuary as the monkeys which were relocated there, were attacking school- going children and others.
The high court's 2007 direction to the municipal corporation had come on a petition filed by the residents of New Friends Colony for catching and relocating monkeys.