An expert team has arrived in Diktel to begin work on sterilising monkeys. The six-member team reached the town on Sunday to carry out preliminary monitoring and study under the government’s pilot programme.

Locals have long demanded action, saying monkeys have been destroying crops and disrupting daily life in villages.

The issue escalated last year when mayor of Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality, Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, staged a hunger strike in Kathmandu from July 27 to August 3, calling for a national policy to manage monkeys and other wildlife. He ended the protest after reaching a 16-point agreement with then forest minister Ain Bahadur Shahi and health minister Pradip Paudel.

Following the agreement, a deal was signed on March 25 between the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the municipality and Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Zoology to control the monkey population.

The team, led by joint secretary Bikash Shrestha, includes Prof Dr Laxman Khanal and senior veterinarian Dr Prabesh Sharma. It will conduct an initial field assessment.

Bhattarai said work will begin on Monday after a detailed plan is finalised. Shrestha said the study will run for two years, exploring sterilisation and other control methods.

“After the pilot, the programme will be expanded to other parts of the country,” he said.