Authorities of the primary school and Angawadi centre in Khamalo village under Derabish tehsil were forced to suspend classes and pre-school learning schedule as monkey have gone on biting spree targeting the children.
"Parents and guardians have stopped sending their wards to school for safety. Since yesterday, children are not coming to school. We are sitting idle in empty classrooms", said Headmistress of Khamalo Primary school, Nirmala Panda.
The Anganwadi centre run under Integrated Child development scheme is also meeting the same fate as parents are not in a mood to take calculated risk to expose the tiny tots to possible onslaught by rowdy monkeys. Even we are feeling unsafe during outdoor movement. Danger of animals attack lurks by any form of outdoor movement, she added.
Monkeys have already attacked three children. Safety of children is our primary concern. Once the monkeys are warded off, we will send children to school and Anganwadi centre, remarked a guardian, Deepak Kumar Sethy.
Earlier we were escorting children to school and ICDS centre. But now we have stopped this as the monkeys have grown more violent since yesterday.
A horde of rogue monkeys have let loose a reign of terror in at least three villages of Kendrapara district with reports of a dozen people including children being injured.
Khamalo village - where the school and ICDS centre is shutdown - is the worst-hit.
Kendrapara Collector, Muralidhar Mallick said "We have directed forest personnel to capture the monkeys to restore normalcy in the affected villages in Derabish Tehsil".
Forest Range Officer, Adhir Behera said "The forest personnel have rushed to the villages to tame the monkeys by tranquilizing technique. We are hopeful of capturing the monkeys who are troubling the villagers. After they are caught, we will leave them in unmanned forest areas in neighbouring Jajpur district".