Not one but a group of monkeys have been terrorising residents of several plush buildings at Worli sea face for the past few days, entering homes and stealing food. On Saturday, two of the simians deftly opened the French windows on the eighth floor of Himalaya Apartments and feasted on fruits kept on the dining table
Worli sea face now boasts of its own set of Dunstons. A group of monkeys have made RG Thadani Marg in Worli their home for the past week, climbing up to as high as the 10th floor of buildings, deftly opening French windows and stealing food from homes. While they haven’t attacked anyone yet, residents say they live in fear, as monkeys are known to attack and even bite people if they feel threatened.
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On Saturday, two of the simian gang climbed up the water pipe of the Himalaya Apartments, to the eighth floor flat of the Makhijas. Speaking to SUNDAY MiD DAY, Sakshi Makhija, said she woke up when she heard a noise in the kitchen. “I thought it was a bird. But when I went into the kitchen I was shocked to see two monkeys.
One was sitting on the platform and the other was on the dining table in the drawing room, eating fruits,” said Makhija. She immediately called her neighbour Asha Kanodia and they managed to shoo away the monkeys. Kanodia told SMD she too had the monkeys as guests for breakfast a few days ago. “Last week around 8.30 am, I sat in my living room when my maid suddenly screamed. When I went to the kitchen there was this monkey sitting there eating bananas,” said Kanodia.
The building’s watchmen said they too had spotted the monkeys. “They generally come every alternate morning and climb till the fourth or fifth floor. If we try to scare them away, they just climb higher up,” said one of them.
The problem is not limited only to Himalaya Apartments alone. Karyn Chung, who lives in Kangra Bhavan around 300 meters from Himalaya Apartments said, “On Friday, around 9 am, as I was leaving home to go to work, I saw two monkeys sitting on the window outside my house. Luckily, they couldn’t come in.”
When contacted, Assistant Conservator of Forest Anil Todarmal said, “There are lots of monkeys all over Mumbai. Now that this has been brought to our notice I will send my staff to look into the matter. If the animals are causing destruction or threatening people, we will take the necessary action.”