Delhi Assembly Speaker says will write to North civic body to control monkey menace

On August 10, the second last day of the monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly, legislators were discussing the issue of guest teachers when a monkey dodged armed security personnel and darted towards the treasury side from the end of the opposition benches.

Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel said he would write to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to find a way to deal with monkey menace in the Vidhan Sabha premises.

On August 10, the second last day of the monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly, legislators were discussing the issue of guest teachers when a monkey dodged armed security personnel and darted towards the treasury side from the end of the opposition benches.

Goel said he would request the civic body to send a team to catch the monkeys. HT had on August 11 reported about the monkey and snake menace in the Delhi assembly.

The action comes over 10 days after a monkey abruptly walked into the 70-member House when the Assembly proceedings were on in full swing.

On August 10, the second last day of the monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly, legislators were discussing the issue of guest teachers when a monkey dodged armed security personnel and darted towards the treasury side from the end of the opposition benches. Two days before that, Assembly officials had also caught two snakes from the Assembly premises.

“The menace of both monkeys and snakes needs to be dealt with. I will write to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to send teams of monkey catchers,” Goel said.

He added that often there is a risk of MLAs and employees of the Vidhan Sabha being bitten by monkeys. During voting for the presidential elections too, held at the Delhi Assembly on July 17, a troop of monkeys had torn down a part of the tent erected for journalists and security personnel.

Goel said that it is not the first time he has highlighted the issue. “I had asked North DMC officials to do something earlier as well. Maybe, the civic body could shift the monkeys to some other place so that the MLAs and staffers could work without fear,” he said.