The menace, especially in lower and mid-Himachal, had become an election issue, with the Congress government being accused of inaction that led to massive destruction of standing crop.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today convened a meeting of senior officers, including Principal Secretary (Forests) Ashok Thakur and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Pankaj Khullar, and drew up an action plan on the issue.

“Because of this problem, farmers have been compelled to

abandon farming operations. Valuable fields have turned barren and farmers are finding it tough to protect standing crops,” Dhumal said.

Dhumal asked the forest department to step up the sterlisation of monkeys as an effective population control measure. He said as sterilisation was a long-term process, farmers’ interests should be protected by starting a monkey catching drive. Dhumal suggested identification of the worst monkey-prone areas and training local youth on contract basis.

“Unemployed local youths will get jobs, while farmers will be relieved of the problem,” he hoped. Dhumal, however, did not favour a monkey culling operation or killing of the simians by farmers.

A local NGO, Gyan Vigyan Samiti, who had started a statewide agitation on the monkey issue, has been demanding that monkeys be declared vermins and lifting a ban on export of monkeys.

In the ten districts affected by monkeys, the population of the simians has already exceeded 3.51 lakh against 60,000 in 1984. In 1988, this population was 1.55 lakh. “It’s an alarming situation and beyond the capacity of Himachal Pradesh to sustain such a huge population,” said Kuldeep Tanwar, a former IFS officer, who heads Gyan Vigyan Samiti .

An annual loss to the crops being caused by monkeys is estimated to be between Rs 325 to Rs 375 crore, which includes Rs 100 crore alone in the agriculture sector. Six deaths have also been reported in the state in the past three years due to monkey terror.

Since the average life span of a monkey is between 13 to 15 years, forest department officials says the impact of the sterilisation drive started last year would be noticed only after five to 10 years’ time.

The wildlife wing, which had taken upon it the responsibility to conduct sterilisation of the monkeys, has already received Rs 50 lakh from the state government to set up a special operation theatre for sterilisation.

In today’s meeting, the Chief Minister said funds would not be any constraint in execution of the project. He said possibilities would also be explored to procure funds from the Central government.