The New Delhi Municipal Corporation has found a bizarre way to tackle the monkey menace in the Parliament House. The monkeys will now be scared away by young people disguised as langurs!

An August 2010 file photo of a street artist dressed as a monkey performing in a slum area in New Delhi. Reuters/Reinhard Krause An August 2010 file photo of a street artist dressed as a monkey performing in a slum area in New Delhi. Reuters/Reinhard Krause

So serious is the NDMC about this method that 40 people have been hired for this very purpose.

Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu revealed the plan to the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question by MP Ambeth Rajan.

Naidu said measures being taken include "scaring monkeys away by trained persons who disguise themselves as langurs".

The other, more conventional method, will be using "Sure Shot Rubber Bullet Guns" for scaring away the monkeys.

On the stray dog menace that haunts Parliament, a team of dog catchers is visiting the Parliament House and surrounding areas twice a week for "catching unimmunised and unsterilised stray dogs".

