Monkeys pop up in the Mylapore zone now and then. One was seen in Dr Ranga Lane recently.
Last week, a group was all over Raja Street and Kandaswamy Street, Mandaveli. Last year, they were in Raja Street for months, barging into kitchens and ransacking shelves. One resident found one monkey at the dining table, enjoying a banana from the bowl.
“When people secure their apartments and the animals do not get food or water they move out, ” said a resident. Another resident said, “They open taps and drink water and leave it open for us to realise the water tank is empty. We had to innovate and outsmart them.”
Residents said that Forest Department staff are slow to respond to SOS calls. When they arrive, they ask residents for snacks to use as bait for the monkeys. “The staff just hang around and leave,” said one resident.
- Inputs by Ganga Sridhar
