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Parks for monkeys in Himachal soon

SHIMLA: Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Monday reiterated that his government is serious about tackling the rising monkey menace in the State and for that it has identified two sites in Palampur and Shimla to develop special nature parks or sanctuaries for the simians.

Addressing a party meeting at Hamirpur, he said the losses to farmers due to wild animal menace would be definitely checked. The Chief Minister accepted that a majority of farmers in the hill State are leaving their land barren and have abandoned agricultural activities. He said farming was the main activity in the State and had the potential to provide self-employment avenues to a large number of rural youth. Asked about the shortage of fertilizers for the farm sector in the State, he said that after he raised the issue with the Centre,

Himachal was provided with 7,500 million tonnes of fertilizers to increase the agriculture yield.

Meanwhile, the State Kissan Sabha and Kheti Bachao Sangharsh Samiti have appreciated the Chief Minister’s concern over the growing monkey menace but have also demanded that Mr. Dhumalconsider their suggestion to declare monkeys as vermin and bring them under Schedule V of the Wildlife Protection Act and resume export of monkeys for bio-medical researches to some developed countries.

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Parks for monkeys in Himachal soon

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