22 August,2018 04:00 PM IST | Mumbai | Rahul Mahajani and Atul Kamble
Monkeys prowl around at the police colony in Pratiksha Nagar, Sion, on Tuesday. Pics/Atul Kamble
Pratiksha Nagar in Sion has been seeing a lot of monkeying around for the last 10 days, literally. A gang of five monkeys seems to have staked out five buildings of the policy colony in the area, where nearly 124 families of officers and personnel stay.
Every morning between 8.30 and 9.30, the animals have been making their way into several kitchens in the seven-storey buildings, located next to Wadala Monorail depot, and stealing food. While residents are fed up with the menace, they are counting their lucky stars that the animals haven't attacked anyone so far.
Morning scare
Yesterday, the monkeys were seen climbing the buildings with the help of water pipes and Mahanagar gas pipes, disdainfully ignoring the hapless watchman trying to shoo them away. The drama went on for nearly 45 minutes - the monkeys, two grown and three young ones, scaled the building easily and were seen jumping on the terrace and swinging the TV dish antennas, before entering homes through open windows.
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On Tuesday, they entered the residence of a sub-inspector who stays on the fourth floor; while the officer was on duty and his elder child in school, his wife and younger child were at home. She told mid-day that she was in the bedroom when the monkeys entered the living room and went into the kitchen to take food. "I called my neighbours who came and shooed away the animals," said the terrified woman.
Timely action needed
The watchman, Raghunath Kamble, said the monkeys have been coming for the past many days, and it's become a part of his daily work, to try and shoo them away. The area has 10-odd societies that come under MHADA; with these monkeys slowly starting to extend their area of attack, worried residents are at their wits' end on what to do about them.
Anand Badgu, the line orderly (manager) for the police quarters, said they will be informing the forest department, as the menace can increase if timely action is not taken.
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