To fight the monkey menace, the New Delhi Municipal Council has hired 40 people who disguise themselves as langurs to scare away the simians from around Parliament.
Responding to MP Ambeth Rajan’s question on steps being taken to check the menace, Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday said the NDMC has hired “trained persons who disguise themselves as langurs” to drive away the monkeys.
The Minister said various efforts were being made to tackle the monkey and dog menace inside and around Parliament as well. The NDMC has acquired rubber bullet guns for scaring away the monkeys and a team of dog catchers visits the Parliament and surrounding areas twice a week to catch unimmunised and unsterilised stray dogs.
However, NDMC sources said these men are not dressed like langurs, but only mimic their voices to terrorise the monkeys. After Union Minister Maneka Gandhi campaigned for ending the practice of using langurs for chasing monkeys away, the government has been forced to look for alternatives to deal with the problem.