PUNE: The popular tourist spot in the ghat section of Lonavla, Monkey Hill is known for the presence of a large number of monkeys. 

True to their nature, these monkeys climb up the overhead equipment (OHE) poles and play with the livewire, disrupting the rail traffic. To keep a check, the Central Railway (CR) has installed a ‘Monkey Guard’ to control the monkeys. 

As per the information given by Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) of Central Railway, Shivaji Sutar said, “The presence of monkeys creates operational hurdles. The OHE gets tripped when a monkey climbs onto a pole, thus disrupting train services. The operational difficulties increase manifold when goods trains are brought to a halt by the tripped OHE.”

“The railway had tried to curb the monkey menace many times by using different techniques. We arranged local techniques, but they did not work properly. The monkeys find ways to escape and try to jump on OHE wires. Earlier this year, we developed a Galvanised Steel Monkey Guard with the help of the Lucknow-based Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO). This also has reduced the cases of electrocution of monkeys by 75 per cent,” he said.

LESSER DEATHS
“Due to climbing or jumping on OHE, the number of deaths of monkeys was high. On average, 18 to 20 monkeys used to die due to electrocution in the section every year. In 2018, around 18 cases were reported due to electrocution at Monkey Hill. After installation of the monkey guard, this year only four cases have been reported,” Chief Public Relation Officer of Central Railway Shivaji Sutar said.