No check on pigs, monkeys

Even as the residents have been facing problems due to stray pigs and monkeys in the city, a helpline set up by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) to check the menace has stopped registering their complaints.

Even as the residents have been facing problems due to stray pigs and monkeys in the city, a helpline set up by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) to check the menace has stopped registering their complaints.

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Although the civic body claims to have two dedicated teams for catching stray pigs and monkeys, the officials at the helpline refuse to register complaints citing unavailability of any such team.

When HT tried to register a complaint with the toll-free helpline, 18001001817, regarding the presence of monkeys in Sector-55, an attendant asked the caller to write an application to the MCG commissioner.

“We cannot register your complaint as the facility is not available. If it is urgent, you may submit a written application to the commissioner and your problem will be looked into,” the call centre attendant said.

When asked, since when the facility has been unavailable, she said, “It has been 15-20 days since we have stopped taking complaints regarding pigs and monkeys. There is no team to catch them.”

Vasishta was told that his complaint could not be addressed as MCG had stopped catching pigs due to lack of space in its pigsty.

On the other hand, MCG officials have denied the absence of a task force to address the issue.

“We have two separate teams - one for pigs and the other for monkeys. Each team comprises of four persons. Our pigsty at Khedki Majra is full with 350 pigs, so we have stopped catching pigs. To make some place, we are soon going to issue a tender to sell these pigs,” said Dr Sumit Dhankhar, MCG medical officer.

A senior official said that the job of catching stray animals has been outsourced. “There are teams to catch these animals from residential sectors,” said Vijender Sharma, chief inspector for sanitation, MCG.

Some officials revealed that the corporation has only one team to lift dead animals. “The pig and monkey catching teams stopped functioning due to lack of staff,” said the official.