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Chandigarh MC’s finance panel to meet on Friday
In view of the rising monkey menace, the Chandigarh civic body has proposed to urgently hire four additional monkey deterrent personnel; they make sounds of langurs to scare the smaller simians away
The Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) is planning to organise the annual Chrysanthemum Show at the Terraced Garden in mid-December this year at a cost of ₹25 lakh, MC officials said on Thursday.
The proposal for the event will be taken up in the monthly finance and contract committee (F&CC) meeting on Friday.
“The Chrysanthemum Show is held every year at the Terraced Garden, Sector 33. Last year, the show was held from December 3 to December 10. This year, the event is proposed to be held in the second or third week of December tentatively. Last year, an administrative approval to the tune of ₹19.7 lakh was accorded. This year, the approximate expenditure is estimated at ₹24.22 lakh, which also includes prizes worth ₹1.65 lakh for winners of various competitions,” officials said.
Besides the show, F&CC will also decide on reducing the rent of the Sector 17 Circus Ground.
The MC has received a request from Tibetan Refugee Potala Market Association, Chandigarh, where they asked the civic body to reduce the rent for Sector 17 Circus Ground, citing that they have been renting the premises since 2010.
The organisation has been renting the premises, especially during winter, every year. In 2010, the rent was ₹15,000 per day, costing as much as ₹18 lakh for a period of 120 days.
The current cost of renting the premises is ₹32,500 per day or ₹40 lakh for a period of 120 days. The organisation has requested MC to either reduce the monthly rent or provide 50% space of the ground at lesser rate, which is in line with the average rent.
Hiring of monkey deterrent personnel
In view of the rising monkey menace, the civic body has proposed to urgently hire four additional monkey deterrent personnel. They make sounds of langurs to scare the smaller simians away.
Since monkeys have been excluded from the purview of the Wild Life Protection Amendment Act, 2023, effective from December 19, 2022, the civic body is trying to undertake measures to curb their menace.
