JOIN USMonkeys trouble NDMC
The New Delhi Municipal Council has failed to tackle monkey menace in its areas over six months after the council took major initiatives to curb the problem.
Last year, the council was flooded with complaints from the VVIP areas — including, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhawan and Udyog Bhawan — and was asked to come up with solutions promptly to minimise the menace.
“We are doing our bit. The changes are not quite perceptible yet,” said Jalaj Shrivastava, Chairperson, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).
The arrangements have fallen short with a rise in number of monkeys in the areas under council’s jurisdiction in the past few months, said a senior official.
The council’s vision in driving away monkeys with rubber bullets, men posing as langurs and non-lethal wires have also not effectively taken off, the official added. Around 40 men were pressed into service as langurs in areas with highest concentration of monkeys.
“Nothing really changed in spite of the plans for the project. The number of monkeys is also too large to be managed,” said the official.
Rubber bullets
The NDMC started using rubber bullet launchers instead of air guns as the latter often cause damage to the animal’s skin. The launcher can fire up to 30 bullets in a minute.
Each bullet has a range of 200 feet and gets stuck to the monkey with a sticky substance.
A small amount of carbon-dioxide pressure helps fire the bullet.
“There are currently 13 rubber bullet launchers. Initially, we had procured two which we had used on an experimental basis,” said a source in the public health department of the NDMC.
The NDMC has also discontinued its plans of providing food for monkeys in the Delhi Ridge areas, which has a high concentration of monkeys. It had coordinated with the Forest Department to ensure that the monkeys would be provided with chana, fruit and raw vegetables on a monthly budget of Rs 1 lakh.
Though initially the council had said the project would continue for a year, it was discontinued after a few months as it was “not sustainable”, said another official.