Rashtrapati Bhavan’s woes of lizards, mice

Rashtrapati Bhavan is dealing with some uninvited guests these days — lizards, spiders, mongooses, ants of all hues, silverfishes, firebrates, mice, etc. And they have claimed space in the main kitchen, bakery unit, halwai unit, grocery store and cold storage unit, spread across 17,000 square feet approximately.

The President’s official resident has a total of 340 rooms across four floors, 2.5 km of corridors and 190 acres of garden area. The trouble is that the pests have entered the 72,000-sq ft guest wing.

After frequent complaints from residents and members of the President’s Estate staff, Prashant Singh, Captain at Comptroller, President Household, sought outside help such as gold seal and pied piper services and integrated lizard and spider management. “To contain rats, mouse and bandicoots, he wants pied piper services,” said a source.