Monkey menace terrorises Vidyavihar

The monkeys inside a house. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

When crackers are set off in Chittaranjan Nagar at Vidyavihar (East), this doesn't mean a celebration or festival, but the arrival of monkeys. Residents have taken to using firecrackers to scare a troop of monkeys that troubles them, as all efforts to ask the authorities to do something about them have yielded nothing. The monkeys barge into homes, temples and offices as well. The locality is blessed with greenery and the fruit plants have become a problem as they lure the monkeys.

The lush green area spreading from Rajawadi Hospital to Pramod Mahajan Garden to Chittaranjan Nagar has more than 260 bungalows and housing societies. Wandering in the area gives one the feel that it is not in Mumbai. But now the area is troubled by monkey menace.

Scared kids run away from three of the simians

How it began

"It was 2019 when it started. We spotted some monkeys in the neighbourhood. We thought the troop was moving from one place to another, but it didn't. In fact in December 2019, a 14-year-old girl was bitten by a monkey when she was in a garden. We then wrote to the Forest Department seeking its help," said Shailesh Joshi, resident of Chittaranjan Nagar.

The monkeys enter the houses through the balcony, terrace and sometimes through open doorways. The incidents of monkeys biting and ransacking houses have become regular in the neighbourhood.

Spreading their territory

Kewal Patel, another resident said, "Recently these monkeys entered our house. There were 6-7 of them. They literally turned our house upside down. We had to run outside and wait till they were gone. I don't know what is the solution for this."

The monkeys have now started venturing to the West area as well. Cama Lane and Navroji Lane have become the latest targets of the menace. Piyush Das, who was born and brought up in the area, said, "In my whole life I never witnessed this kind of menace. Monkeys ransack everything and run away. They have not spared temples either. Recently they went to the 8th floor of a nearby commercial complex".

Locals claim the forest department has done nothing of their complaints. Santosh Kank, Range Forest officer, Mumbai when asked about this, said, "Monkeys are everywhere in the city. We should remember not to feed or trouble them. That's when they get violent. Animals keep changing their habitat depending upon their source of food. I understand what a lay man will think if suddenly 5 to 6 monkeys appear in his balcony or porch. But people have to be patient and not do anything that will make them aggressive."