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| India-Pakistan |
| Scare Monkeys to protect Delhi |
| 2006-05-28 |
| When the real guys fail to do the job, call in the dummies. That, in short, is the Central Public Works Department's latest plan of action to deal with marauding monkeys of the high-profile Raisina Hill area in the Capital. Failing to rid the high-security area of the monkey menace and with their best bet, the black-faced langurs employed to scare away the marauding simians, unable to stand vigil 24 hours CPWD officials are working on a project to use the services of dummy langurs. The department, a senior official said, plans to procure stone statues of langurs. "These dummies will look real. They will have wheels for easy movement, but these will be covered to make the dummies look real. At some places, we plan to place these statues on bicycles, just like the real langurs carried by madaris (langur-keepers)," he said. The dummies will be placed all over the Raisina Hill area, among the worst affected by the menace. Though langurs employed by the government do scare away the notorious monkeys, but they are 'on duty' only from 9 am to 6 pm. After the langurs leave, the monkeys return to wreak havoc. CPWD feels employing dummies will not only keep monkeys off round the clock, it will also save the government money. The madaris are currently paid Rs 7,000 a month for their services. If this measure appears desperate, so is the situation. As a CPWD officer put it, "In this rhesus monkeys have been attacking people, sabotaging hotlines and destroying property. A couple of years ago, monkeys raided Army headquarters and classified documents were found strewn in corridors and power cables to computers containing sensitive data were snapped. The simians routinely enter private houses, raid fridges, snap power lines and take free bus rides. At least 10,000 monkeys plague South Block alone." The government had mooted, and rejected, several plans to tackle the problem, such as setting up a park for captured monkeys or neutering the animals. An earlier plan to trap the pests and ship them to neighbouring states fell apart after these states complained they had enough trouble coping with their own monkeys. Exterminating the animals was not an option are they are worshipped as incarnations of Lord Hanuman, sources said. The sterilisation plan also faced stiff opposition from animal activists. "Former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh had hit upon the plan to use the services of the black-faced langur. Langur keepers were hired as government employees and paid salaries for their services. But it's high time we found a permanent solution. Even now, such is the monkey terror that government employees walk to work warily armed with sticks and stones, an official said. |
| Posted by:john |
| #2 Ho about pepper balls, this would "train them" to stay way since they must have a religious prohibition against just off the little jerks. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-05-28 21:17 |
| #1 It sounds like they could use a couple of tigers wandering the landscape. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-28 21:10 |