The monkeys have been breaking into houses and stealing foods, ripping clothes, breaking windowpanes, and biting small children. “Until we get rid of the monkeys, it is worthless to carry out development projects here,” said local resident Rita Lama. Meanwhile, with the increase in their numbers, the monkeys have become more defiant and aggressive.

Due to the terror, locals have been trying to sell their properties and relocate. “Even the tenants do not want to live in the area let alone the landlords,” said Dhruba Lama, another local.

 A meeting attended by representatives of political parties and the stakeholders held at Dhe district Administration Office on Tuesday to address the problem concluded after reaching an agreement to cage the monkeys before relocating them to Charkose Jhadi. However, Chief District Officer Ek Narayan Aryal opined that it was not a permanent solution and expressed the need to initiate a specific project targeting to remove the errant monkeys.

Although a research centre in Lalitpur had taken the responsibility to collect and transfer the monkeys, a couple of years ago, it was discontinued abruptly. During the short period, the centre had netted some monkeys and performed vasectomy on them.

There are reportedly over 500 monkeys in the area and more than 200 households have been harassed.