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Growing monkey menace irks Thakur village residents

Nov 10, 2022 01:00 AM IST

Mumbai: Thakur Village in Kandivali (east) is jokingly being called “Planet of the Apes” ever since some 100-odd monkeys have found their due abode in 15 gated housing societies

Mumbai: Thakur Village in Kandivali (east) is jokingly being called “Planet of the Apes” ever since some 100-odd monkeys have found their due abode in 15 gated housing societies.

Growing monkey menace irks Thakur village residents
Growing monkey menace irks Thakur village residents

The societies’ proximity to the boundary of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) doesn’t help in preventing entry of monkeys inside the society compounds and their menace has increased two-fold in the last two months.

Residents of the locality have shared hilarious tales of monkeys wrapping themselves in sarees and shirts drying in their balconies. Some have even invaded drawing rooms and by now know access to their kitchens. So grave is the monkey menace in Thakur Village that the balconies and windows are kept shut all day and night.

“They open the sliding doors and enter. Ever since some monkeys have learnt that the fridge contains food, others too have come from the national park and joined the party. Three monkeys sat on my fridge. One opened the door and started throwing eggs and fruits to the other two monkeys who were catching and relaying them to the door. The next day they bathed with rasam kept on the table. They are even familiar with the escape route. They ate all my plants and only left cactus on our balcony,” said Harsha Kumara Udupi, a resident of Evershine phase 1 in Thakur Village, which is 1-km away from the SGNP.

Asitkumar Das from Uranus CHS in Kandivali said, “In the mornings, when residents leave their garbage bins out, all the trash is left scattered in the building compound by the monkeys.”

Ujwal Parkar, chairman, Uranus CHS added, “Initially, these monkeys used to come once in a while, but nowadays they have made our society their home. They enter our houses, open the fridge, take away whatever they can put their hands on and ransack our house. They loiter in the lobby area and balcony. The monkeys attack if any of us try to scare them away. They have attacked kids and have injured them, fortunately we could save them from their clutches well in time,” said Parkar.

Matters have reached such a head as they sleep on the society premises, urinate and defecate all over. “This emanates an unbearable foul smell throughout the day. There is an impending health risk due to the unhealthy environment. All residents have to keep their windows, balcony closed through the day and night, depriving them of fresh air,” said Parkar.

On Wednesday, Thakur village residents visited the BMC’s disaster control department to find a solution to the monkey menace.

“Neither the BMCs disaster control, nor the forest department have any idea to tackle this situation,” rued Udupa.

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