Other possible entry points, including gaps in the roof and exhaust vents, have also been sealed or repaired, he added.
The stadium has also undergone an overhaul to improve the look and feel of the arena. The Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium was built for the 1982 Asian Games and later renovated ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
“Structural upgrades have been carried out at the three major arenas in the stadium,” Ambar Pratap Singh, executive director of Sports Authority of India, said in a video posted on social media.
The lighting has also been fixed after players complained during the India Open about shadows appearing on the court, he added.
But it is the efforts to keep monkeys away from the venue that have attracted the most attention ahead of the tournament.
A video showing a man apparently mimicking the call of a langur – large, long-tailed monkeys found across much of South Asia – went viral on social media in India earlier this week.
Langur’s calls have traditionally been used to scare away smaller rhesus macaques, which are common in the city.
Several Indian and international news outlets reported that men who mimic langurs had been hired to keep away other monkeys.
Even two-time badminton Olympic medallist PV Sindhu wrote on X: “Our solutions may be uniquely Indian, but so are our warmth, our spirit and our hospitality.”
But senior official Mishra told the BBC that the association had not specifically employed anyone as part of measures for the championships.
He said that because the stadium covers a large area, a person who could imitate langur calls was briefly present in the northern block.
The use of langurs to scare away rhesus macaques is not new in India, especially Delhi. During the 2010 Commonwealth Games, authorities used black-faced langurs at some venues to scare away smaller rhesus macaques.
In 2023, when India hosted the G20 summit, authorities put up life-size cutouts of langurs across the capital to scare monkeys away.
