Lockdown blues hit Elephenta Island residents hard By Dnyanesh Chavan

Mumbai, Apr 22 () Every morning before he wakes up,a group of monkeys starts making noise on the branches oftrees outside his home near the world famous Elephenta Caves.

Rajendra Padate then gets up and asks somebody to cook'dal rice, or he gets some bread and distributes among theanimals.

Earlier, the monkeys used to survive on food left bytourists visiting the Elephenta Caves, a UNESCO world heritagesite located on the Elephanta Island, also known as Gharapurivillage, 10 km east of the Mumbai shore in the Arabian Sea.

But, now these animals are finding it difficult tofind food for survival as people have stopped visiting theisland since the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

Nearly 850 people reside in 275 houses located on theisland.

On normal days, hundreds of tourists used to visit thecave temples on the island, but since the lockdown came intoforce, not a single visitor has arrived, Padate, the formerGharapuri village head, told .

The monkeys inhabiting the island had got into thehabit of eating snacks and consuming soft drinks left over bythe tourists.

But, now the primates hardly have anything to eat, andthey gather in groups on top of the trees, closed shops andrestaurants enroute to the caves in search of food.

"After seeing the monkeys in such a state, I decidedto feed them and with the help of few other people around,started cooking 'dal rice' for them at a canteen. I also feedthem bread or toast at times. We will do this according to ourcapacity till we have enough food with us, he said.

Due to the lockdown, tourism activities have come to ahalt at the island and this may probably go on for the nextfew months, he said.

Most of the island residents used to run small snackshops, restaurants and fruit juice centres, while some workedas tourist guides. But due to the lockdown, all of them aresitting at home and waiting for normal day-to-day life toresume, the 55-year-old former village head said.

"Our business is dependent on tourists, but as Mumbaihas become a coronavirus hotspot, nobody will take a chance tovisit the caves in this season," he said.

There is a hope that the boat service will resume fromMay 3, but nothing is definite if the number of coronaviruscases increases in Mumbai, Padate said, adding that people onthe island are following social distancing guidelines.

On normal days, at least 90 passenger boats used torun between the Gateway of India and the Elephenta Caveseveryday.

"Now, a few residents go to Uran in Navi Mumbai in aboat once or twice a week to bring the essential food items.Only one month of the tourist season is now left as in June,our business stops due to rainy season. This means our peoplewill be jobless for at least next six-seven months, he said.

"Many of them do not have sufficient savings, so Iwant to request the government that instead of giving monetaryaid, it should provide food grains and other essential itemsto local people, he said.

Recently, residents of the island got rice and otherfood items from the state government. This will be helpfultill the tourist season resumes, he added. DCGK GK