The principal secretary, Forests and Environment, S Ramaswamy had on March 26 issued a letter to the principal chief conservator of forests asking him to direct forest department officers to undertake a campaign against people illegally capturing and exploiting langurs commercially. However, more than a month after this letter was issued, the langurs are still being used to purportedly scare away macaques at prominent ashrams in Haridwar and Rishikesh.
The Rajaji national park field director had formed two teams for this purpose directing them to take necessary action against persons trapping and commercially exploiting the langurs but not a single animal has been rescued yet because the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden SS Sharma has not issued instructions about what to do with the rescued simians.
On March 26, 2014, the Uttarakhand principal secretary, Forests and Environment S Ramaswami had written to the PCCF citing information about madaris flouting the rules and moving around with captive langurs in Kotdwar, Haridwar, Rishikesh, lakshmanjhula and Swargashram areas. The letter asks the PCCF to ensure legal action against such persons, rescue the langurs and inform the State administration about action taken with evidence within three days. People for Animals chairperson, Maneka Gandhi welcomed the order issued by the State administration while expressing hope for its thorough implementation. However, langurs are still being used at prominent ashrams in Haridwar, Rishikesh and Swargashram areas, said PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi. The Rajaji field director SP Subudhi said that after receiving the order he had formed two teams for rescuing the captive langurs. However, not a single captive simian has been freed yet because the chief wildlife warden had been asked for further instructions which have not been issued yet.