Madugula, popular for its century-old halwa, now held hostage by its marauding monkeys

Monkey menace terrorizes Madugula residents, causing crop damage and fear among villagers, with officials promising action.

“They come not in pairs or in small groups, but in droves. They raid our crops and terrorise the children. They snatch away whatever takes their fancy. We simply look on helplessly,” says Yellapu Pentayya, shooting off a scornful look at some monkeys perched lazily on a nearby tree.

Pentayya is a resident of Madugula, famous for its century-old (approximately 134-year-old) ghee halwa, and now in the throes of an unprecedented monkey menace. The mandal, located on the slopes of the lush Eastern Ghats and around 65 km from Visakhapatnam, is home to 28 hamlets, all of which are reporting a sharp uptick in monkey intrusions.

“Women, children, farmers, motorists and even MGNREGS workers are in a grip of fear. While monkeys keep entering our villages throughout the year, the problem has become particularly severe in the past few days as it is the harvesting season for various crops such as paddy, sugarcane and red gram. Residents are at their wits’ end in hamlets like Dabbakunta, Etapatti, Geddapatti and KJ Puram,” says Pentayya, a teacher-turned-farmer from KJ Puram.

“Even MGNREGS workers are unable to work in peace due to the fear of monkeys,” says B. Srinivasa Rao, a field assistant working under the MGNREGA scheme in KJ Puram. “The monkeys come whenever they feel like. They move around on treetops and swoop down and snatch away the tiffin boxes of agricultural workers and labourers,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao adds.

K. Suribabu, a farmer, says he has been forced to raise the prices of coconuts as the monkeys keep damaging his crop. Another resident, K. Suguna Rao, a sugarcane farmer, said that despite several complaints to government officials, no action is being taken in this regard. “Even politicians from our area are not paying any heed to our plight,” he rues.

Speaking to The Hindu, Madugula Tahsildar K. Ramadevi said, “We are ready to take action if anyone comes to us with an official complaint about the monkey menace. We will look into the issue.”

There is, however, a silver lining, says a villager, requesting to remain unnamed. “There is no more open defecation across the mandal, thanks to the monkeys.”