Monkey Menace in Campbell Bay: Coconut Farmers Seek Urgent Action and Compensation

Rabindranath Biswas
Campbell Bay, Dec. 17: The monkey menace in Campbell Bay shows no signs of ebbing away, and the threat thrown by it is still a vexing problem for coconut farmers in Great Nicobar.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha Daily, Shri Prahlad Singh, Pradhan, Gram Panchayat Laxmi Nagar, Campbell Bay said that in reiteration of monkey menace in Campbell Bay, he wrote a letter to the Divisional Forest Officer, Nicobar Division, Campbell Bay last month apprising the higher Forest Official of farmers’ grievance owing to the damage of green coconut by the monkey. He said that he received several complaints from the coconut farmers regarding damage of coconut and other crops by the monkeys.
The coconut crop is reportedly the main source of income at GNI contributing to the economy of the Islands, he said in the letter. According to some estimates, there are reportedly over 3500 monkeys at Great Nicobar Islands which is expected to increase exponentially due to favorable breeding conditions, the Pradhan said. Due to the categorization of monkeys in Schedule A of Forest Act, the local population are bound by law, to not to bring any harm to the monkey, Mr. Singh mentioned in his letter.
The people are reportedly generally law-abiding, and never take law into their own hands, he claimed. Time and again farmers reportedly voice their concern about the problems in the Gram Sabha. The problem still persists and little action seems to have been taken by the Forest Department, the Pradhan told ASD.
The Pradhan urged the DFO to depute Forest personnel to chase away monkeys from human habitation so as to mitigate the problems and also to relocate the monkeys to some other compatible uninhabited islands to do away with the menace, he wrote in the letter as said by him.
The current market rate of coconut is reportedly Rs. 22/unit, and other vegetables and fruits also have their own market rates. Hence, the Pradhan made a formal request to the DFO to compensate the farmers as and when monkeys damage the crops commensurate with the prevailing market rates, as demanded by the Pradhan in his letter.
Due to monkey menace, there is reportedly scarcity of vegetables and fruits in the local market, thereby skyrocketing of prices, which in turn affect the poorest of the poor very dearly, Mr. Singh rued.
The Laxmi Nagar Pradhan, urged the DFO to take appropriate action, as deemed fit, to arrest the monkey menace in rural areas under GP Laxmi Nagar and elsewhere in Campbell Bay, he further said.