Monkey menace turns Sai Colony in war zone

By Reya Mehrotra

Monkey risk has reached epic proportions, say residents who have to use water guns, laser beams and nails on walls to stay themselves secure

At any time of the day, Sai Colony in Whitefield stays most commonly abandoned – now not in contrast to a conflict zone. In fact, residents normally don’t stroll out of their homes unarmed. Water guns, laser beams and small sticks are at all times kept handy. The tension here between humans and monkeys – each long-term residents of the locality – is palpable. But issues have come to a head now, say residents.

Ashish Mohanty, a resident of Sai Colony, advised BM that he had to send his ailing father to a relative’s position in Orissa as a result of he got hypersensitive reactions from monkey faeces and urine falling on their area.

“My father is a cancer patient and catches infections easily.

I are living in some of the houses in the corner of the society where the most selection of monkeys are living.

They defecate outdoor our houses, occasionally even inside our obstacles. We are prone to all kinds of infections, particularly right through the monsoon as it gets mixed with water. They additionally defecate in our water tanks,” he says. Mohanty says a variety of folks have relocated because of the monkey risk. Others are doing what they can to give protection to themselves. “I have coated the back of my area totally with inexperienced coloration now.”

Residents say that monkeys listed below are ferocious and rising in number. They’ve been around for just about a decade now. But what bothers them maximum is that their houses are perpetually coated in faeces and urine falling from above. As a preventive measure, many homes in the colony are actually large asymmetrical hidden structures, coated from best to backside in plastic tarpaulin and inexperienced coloration.

NOT SOLUTION YET

The residents have lengthy been asking for the BBMP and different authorities to relocate the monkeys to within sight forests. But that hasn’t worked.

Most monkeys, they claim, are discovered at Sathya Sai Baba Gokulam ashram that still has a Hanuman temple.

A resident, who stays on the corner-most area in Sai Colony, near the Sai Baba Gokulam water tank, has sleepless nights and an injured arm, because of the monkeys.

“I keep alone with my 76-year-old mom. I have now not been ready to paintings as I am afraid to depart my mom alone with such ferocious monkeys around. My nights are spent shooing them away with water guns and laser beams,” she mentioned.

ORIGINAL RESIDENTS?

Decades ago, Sai Colony was once a woodland house, was once at the start a spot where monkeys and different animals lived, however, as the area evolved many animals were displaced.

Apart from the ashram, a non-public paying visitor (PG) accommodation in the colony is every other resting, breeding position of monkeys. The PG premises, if truth be told, has piles of monkey faeces. The residents have been complaining to the PG owner for a yr now, but as a substitute of helping, he threatened them with dire penalties.

A resident says: “We have been asking the BBMP and native leaders to lend a hand relocate the monkeys; but nobody takes realize. At least three folks from our colony whom I know have moved out because of the issue.”

However, the PG owner, on repeated requests, did set up thorns/nails across the obstacles of the PG to stay monkeys away. But even this hasn’t helped a lot.

“Monkeys grasp our luggage occasionally to seek out eatables. A few days ago, a friend of mine visited the temple to provide some end result. A monkey snatched the entire end result from her and kept it in entrance of the idol in the temple. I keep in Sai Colony extension so there are fewer monkeys near our homes as compared with the homes near the ashram. It is best once we consult with the temple that we come throughout them,” says Suganthi Rajesh, a homemaker.

OTHER AREAS TOO

Not best Sai colony but even Golden Blossom Apartments in Kadugodi within sight has monkey risk. In the closing 4 years, the placement had grow to be so aggravating that many people refused to rent or purchase houses in the apartments. The residents took charge and increased the safety and the placement has come what may been introduced beneath regulate this yr.

Suman Nagpal, a property dealer who stays at Signature Tower, Golden Blossom Apartments, says: “Signature Tower has the most selection of monkeys in the entire apartments in Golden Blossom. Since our safety guards started bringing langurs and tightened safety, there are fewer monkeys this yr.
The drawback had grow to be so common that whenever folks came to buy or rent a flat here, many would refuse witnessing the monkey risk.”

SO, WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?

Wildlife professionals are in opposition to the theory of relocation and say depriving them of their habitat would now not solve the purpose. Anindya Sinha, primatologist, National Institute of Advanced Studies, says: “There have been only a few cases where folks have caught an infection because of monkey faeces. In many portions of our nation, folks do share spaces with monkeys. If the case is serious, folks should use window meshes and ensure that homes do not grow to be meals resources for monkeys. Windows and doorways should be kept closed in order that they don’t thieve meals from homes. Domestic waste should now not be kept in the open. You should now not attempt to shoo them away by means of throwing stones at them as this would best galvanize them. A excellent apply is to not make eye contact. Relocation is a foul thought as they might go back or now not be capable of modify in the new atmosphere.”