Poll panel warns MCD: No monkey business this time

A day before the State Election Commission started cataloguing all its documents, which will be required for the MCD elections, it asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to make the premises ‘monkey proof’. Neelam Pandey reports.

A day before the State Election Commission started cataloguing all its documents, which will be required for the MCD elections, it asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to make the premises ‘monkey proof’.

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The civic agency immediately swung into action and captured as many as 30 monkeys that have been relocated to north Delhi’s Bhatti mines.

During the municipal elections last year, the commission had erected tents at its Kashmere Gate headquarters to accommodate all polling officers, so the machines and voter rolls could be distributed to them at one place.

Monkey menace had, however, affected their functioning with some monkeys damaging the electronic voting machines, which were being tested, and others tearing up documents.

“I had a meeting with the contractor, who will be start putting up tents for our polling officers from tomorrow, to ensure there are no gaps in the tents allowing monkeys to gain access inside,” said Rakesh Mehta, State Election Commissioner.

“We had received a few complaints from the State Election Commission and we have been sending our monkey catching squad to capture them. On Monday too, one such team went to the spot,” said YS Mann, director, press and information, MCD. The commission has chalked out an alternative plan too. It has decided to deploy langoors at its Kashmere Gate office to keep monkeys at bay.