No one to catch monkeys, let Delhi govt do it: SDMC to High court

New Delhi: SDMC today told the Delhi High Court that it cannot catch monkeys and relocate them to the Asola-Bhati sanctuary here due to lack of monkey catchers and that the Delhi government's Wildlife Department is the appropriate body to perform the task.

The submission was made by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in its application filed before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal 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 catch and relocate monkeys.

It claimed that under the Wildlife Protection Act, the Delhi government's Wildlife Department is the appropriate body to carry out the direction given in the HC order.

The corporation said that it does not have the powers nor the authority to catch and relocate monkeys.

SDMC said 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 was received.

It said that it had also written to the Chief Wildlife Warden of the Delhi government and various other 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 corporation contended.

Meanwhile, the "menace" of monkeys is increasing and even those simians which were relocated to Asola-Bhati have moved into nearby residential areas and schools and are allegedly attacking children, SDMC said.

The high court's direction to the municipal corporation had come on a petition filed by the residents of New Friends Colony here for catching and relocating monkeys.