The programme will work towards controlling the invasion of monkeys upon crops and vegetables, the directorate said. The programme will come into effect primarily in four villages of Sindhupalchok and Kathmandu.

Bablu Thakur, information officer at the directorate, said that the amount will be provided as a grant to the farmers who have been suffering from monkey menace. “The directorate has already decided to provide Rs1 million to the Sindhupalchok-based Nayapani Farmers’ Group in Dhuseni village,” Thakur said.

In Dhuseni, which has about 300 houses, nearly two dozen households have migrated because of monkey menace. “After their hard-earned produce is destroyed by the monkeys those households had hardly any option than to move away,” said Kumar Acharya, chair of the farmers’ group. “More people will move away if the monkey crisis is not addressed.”

Acharya added that with the budget from the ministry, the group would construct fences and traps, and destroy the monkeys’ hideaway bushes.

There are an estimated 700 monkeys in the area. “Of late, the monkeys have not just destroyed the crops but also entered the houses and destroyed food and clothes,” Acharya said. “The animals have also attacked humans, injuring many.”

Moreover, the farmers have planned to sterilise the monkeys once they’re trapped. How they intend to run the programme is unclear, though.

Meanwhile, the locals of Mulkharka in Kathmandu, another beneficiary of the province’s grant, are preparing to install live wire fences. “The ‘fencing system’ won’t kill the monkey but will give a good shock, which in turn would deter the monkey from marauding again,” said Krishna Tamang, chair of the Mulkharka-based Sundar Bagmati Yuwa Krishi Samuha. “Next year, we will install a siren facility to deter the animals.” According to Tamang, over 200 households are affected by marauding monkeys in Mulkharka.