Residents of Mohan Meakins Society, Sector 5, Vasundhara, have had a monkey problem on their hands for two years.
Girish Rai, a resident, said that a pack of 20-25 monkeys raids the society every two to three days. "They attack children and women. They are just getting bolder over the years," he added.
NK Rai, secretary of Mohan Meakins Sahkari Awas Samiti, said, "The situation is pretty grave. Our children are often attacked when they are going to school. We even kept a langur in the society to chase the monkeys away, but the Forest Department objected to this. We ended up sending it back."
The local administration, the municipality and the Forest Department have been passing the buck to one another, resulting in a big, fat zero in terms of action.
The residents had met District Magistrate of Ghaziabad, Vimal Kumar Sharma, on February 28, asking for help. The outcome: Nothing.
Distraught residents held a demonstration at the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) office on March 10 and threatened to protest in front of the office if something was not done soon.
Joga Singh, divisional forest officer, Ghaziabad, said, "The Forest Department does not directly get involved in such issues. It only issues instructions to catch the animals and rehabilitate them. We are awaiting correspondence from the municipal corporation," he said.
City Spidey took up the matter with DK Sinha, additional commissioner, GMC. "We have written to the Forest Department and action will be taken soon," he said.
Seems like watching a match of tennis from the stands, with monkeys laughing in the background.
