Chennai: A few months ago two monkeys had taken control of affairs at the domestic terminal of the Chennai airport for two days. Officials heaved a huge sigh of relief then. They were, however, given a sharp reminder that the simian problem is far from over. One monkey got up to his tricks again at the international airport terminal on Wednesday, creating a ruckus, scaring passengers and officials.
The simian visitor put in an appearance on the roof of the second floor departure terminal at around 3.30 pm sending many passengers into a tizzy. A good number of passengers heading to Gulf countries were waiting at the terminal when the monkey showed up at the departure point. "Many of them, particularly women passengers, were terrified on noticing the monkey jumping around," S Raman, a loader who was inside departure lounge said. He had seen Mumtaz Beguam, a passenger bound for Sharjah, running away from the monkey leaving behind her bag containing some snacks.
The monkey continued to stay inside the airport while workers kept chasing it around carrying a net to trap the frisky visitor. Sources revealed that the net to catch the monkey had been kept ready at the airport ever since the problem erupted with the visit of the first creature about three month ago. The monkey, which is believed to have slipped in from the forest area near the airport, was found jumping on the roof and also tried to snatch snacks from some passengers getting ready to board their flights.
Last time out, the monkey menace had continued for more than two days — from January 25 to 27 — until security personnel managed to catch the female monkey and they used her as a trap to bring the male monkey in. Airport director Deepak Shastri, when contacted, said that it appears the Chennai airport has to live with the menace. "There are a lot of monkeys in the immediate vicinity of the airport. They are attracted to the food available in the surroundings of the airport. Today, a team of forest officials came and left empty handed. As of now, we have kept a few gates open deliberately so that the monkey could return to the nearby forest," he said.
