This is exactly the situation in Panchmarhi, a hill tourist center in Madhya Pradesh. The town is situated at a height of 3500ft above sea level and except iced peaks, has all the natural ingredients a tourist place should have.
It is known for its green cover, dense forests, ethnic tribes and murmur of water flowing down the falls, which can be heard from everywhere in the area. Some corporate houses hold their meetings,conferences, motivating camps and even send their executives for holidaying in Panchmarhi.
However the situations have changed in recent years. Father Prabhudas Tirkey, a priest of a local church says, “Monkeys rule over the entire town and we have shuttered ourselves behind iron bars.”
My daughter Vinita and son-in-law Rakesh visited the town last year. Vinita said, “The ambience and silence of the place, apart from its picturesque beauty is highly enjoyable, but the monkeys are a terror everywhere on roads to roofs, dining table, cars and even enter rooms to snatch foods." She was very worried about her 3-year-old kid and vowed never to come again cutting short her visit on that occasion.
The tourist flow has started receding because of this menace. Most of the 15000 residents have iron nets coverings in the houses, on the roofs, windows, and verandahs. Apart from damaging property, there are large number of cases of monkey bites, mostly affecting ladies and children.
Forest department is expected to tackle the problem. But Ranger Pradip Khatri blames the tourists for eating out in open and leaving the remnants scattered, which according to him has invited the monkeys. He said, “ Monkey menace is not new to this town. Three years ago, we brought experts from Mathura to trap and take away 300 monkeys from this town.”
Meanwhile the district administration has announced that monkey-bite victims can claim medical expenses from forest department.