Now, women take up arms to battle monkey menace

“We have been guarding ourselves with bamboo sticks, but the monkeys are not scared of such things anymore. So, we have started using air guns. They keep damaging our property. We cannot even step in our lawns and terraces,” said Mamta Pathak, a resident.

She added: “We have complained regularly to the Forest department helpline that was started recently. But we were told that as there are only two monkey catchers, they cannot come. We are now planning to file a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue.” The monkeys could be seen moving about freely in the colony — damaging property, hanging from electricity poles and scaring people. According to the residents, despite taking precautions like putting up iron grills, the monkeys still manage to enter their houses.

“When the monkeys see us with guns, they flee. They move in groups of 20 or 30 and we have no other option but to stay in indoors in fear that they will attack us,” said Yogita Pandey, another resident.

She added: “At night, they even enter our houses. Then we have to use laser guns to scare them. Every time we step out of the house, we have to be on constant guard. We cannot even let our children go out without someone accompanying them.”

Another resident, Shashibala Tandon, said: “Even going out for morning walks has become difficult.”

Ashok Mishra, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Lucknow, said: “Earlier also, we have received complaints from the area and had sent our team to catch the monkeys. We had caught around 25 monkeys from the area. If the problem still persists, then we will again send our team to review the situation.”