OTV Impact: Monkeys Stranded On Power Transmission Tower Rescued

Jharsuguda: A day after an OTV report showing ordeal of some monkeys struggling for their lives while being stranded on a High Tension (HT) electricity transmission tower at Tumermunda in Jharsuguda, the forest department successfully managed to rescue four of the six monkeys from the spot.

As per reports, a tribe of monkeys were spotted near the transmission tower this summer when the area was relatively dry.

But excessive rain and subsequent release of excess water from Hirakud dam into the Ib River flooded the low lying areas reportedly leaving the monkeys stranded on the tower since then.

Without food to eat, five of them reportedly perished and the remaining six monkeys were on the verge of dying when residents of nearby villages who spotted the stuck monkeys on the tower decided to lend them a helping hand.

But after repeated attempts by locals to get the monkeys down the tower by luring them with food items failed, a team from forest department also tried to rescue the monkeys twice but were unsuccessful in doing so.

After days of inaction, when the news on the situation of the animals broke on OTV, the forest department officials swung into action and managed to rescue four of the stranded monkeys on Thursday. But two of them are still reportedly stuck on the power transmission tower.

DFO of Jharsuguda Forest Division, Sushant Kumar said, “Because of the proactive measures taken by the forest staff some monkeys have been successfully rescued from that tower.”