The ever-so-long monkey menace at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is now beginning to even obstruct medical operations as a barrel of monkeys nearly damaged an emergency oxygen storage tank within the campus recently causing much panic.
According to the sources, the monkeys held onto the pipes of the oxygen tank situated near the dental unit and shook them frivolously which led to a leak and an immense amount of smoke accumulation in the area. While the institute managed to take control of the situation, the monkeys are nowhere near being policed as their nuisance continues.
Most of these monkeys are to be seen around the hostels in the AIIMS campus. Anupam Kumar, a security guard posted outside the boys’ hostel said that the monkeys come in troops of 30-40 and trouble mainly women. “They are a complete nuisance. They usually come together and since they are so many of them, they are uncontrollable. They don’t bite anyone but they target women and snatch food from them. They also slap people who are walking here,” informed Kumar who witnessed their attack on the oxygen tank a few days back.
“Earlier they only used to trouble people and maximum overturn dustbins. But now they are becoming a threat to hospital property. A few days ago, they climbed the oxygen tank near the dental clinic and began shaking the pipes which carry the oxygen to the hospital. They even opened the taps and caused a lot of damage. The entire place got smoked up till we shooed them away and the situation was brought under control. This tank stores oxygen for the hospital’s use,” said Kumar.
These monkeys have been a menace and known for snapping at people in the area for years now. However, they have never affected the functioning of the hospital. This is the first time that something of this nature has happened. Officials at the hospital say that their hands are bound. “We can’t do anything to these monkeys. To control these monkeys painful procedures have to be used. One cannot control them otherwise and we are not allowed to use painful procedures on them because it’s against the law. Thus, they are creating havoc in front of our eyes,” said an AIIMS official.
According to a source in the hospital, most of these monkeys are actually there because of the hospital. “Since AIIMS is a premier research institute, animals are used for research. After two-three years of research a few monkeys are let go. However, they never leave the premises and habituate themselves with the surroundings. Now these monkeys even have timings at which they come to grab food because they know the place so well,” said the source who has been associated with AIIMS for several years now and has seen the monkey menace grow without restriction. However, no official comment by the hospital was given on this matter.