Kollam: Residents and traders in Sasthamkotta are grappling with an escalating menace from macaques, locally known as 'Chanda Kurangukal'. Houses with tiled or sheet roofs have become prime targets, and the animals are also causing extensive damage to crops and agricultural activity.

Local residents are demanding that the problem-causing macaques be trapped and relocated. Complaints have poured in from Sasthamkotta town, the eastern side of DB College, Rajagiri, Pipe Road, Manakkara and Punnakkad. The troop currently roaming these areas is believed to have originated from the local temple, after being driven away by the dominant temple-dwelling monkeys.

Around 25 years ago, following a High Court directive, a team from Delhi had captured and translocated macaques from the region to the Achankovil and Shendurney forests. However, a few animals reportedly escaped during the operation and later multiplied. Today, an estimated 50 macaques are spread across three locations, continuing to trouble the community.

These animals frequently steal food from shops, bakeries, houses, and agricultural fields. They pluck tender coconuts, destroy young shoots on coconut trees, damage overhead sheets, remove roof tiles, and even snatch clothes left out to dry. Residents also report that the macaques tamper with taps and enter water tanks by removing their covers.

Calls to conserve and feed the macaques of Sasthamkotta, which are considered part of the region’s heritage, have largely gone unheeded, leaving locals to deal with the escalating problem on their own.