Times
of India: Mumbai: Saturday, 30 May 2015.
Highlighting
the need for better sanitation and cleanliness, an RTI reply has found the BMC
killed around 6 lakh rats in the last two years. It spent Rs 7crore and has 125
regular rat labourers and 29 rat killers on its rolls.
"We have
been actively involved in killing rats, but community involvement is not seen.
The 4D measures Deny Entry, Deny Shelter, Deny Food and Destruction are not
adopted by citizens. If these measures are taken, automatically the rat menace
will reduce. The worst affected areas are the gullies in the old parts of Mumbai,
where residents throw garbage outside, attracting rats. Posh areas where
cleanliness is maintained do not have the rat problem," said BMC's
insecticide officer Rajan Naringrekar.
The BMC said
3.3lakh rats were killed between April 2013 and March 2014 and 2.6lakh between
April 2014 and March 2015. "Where there is an unhygienic situation, rats
will make their way. People need to take precautions," said activist
Chetan Kothari, who had moved the RTI application.
The BMC
killed these rats through trapping, poison baiting and night rat killers. If
the number of rats trapped in an area is an indication of the extent of the
problem, wards E (Byculla, Reay Road; 14,100 rats were collected in
January-March 2015), B (Sandhurst Road; 12,479 rats), and C
(Kalbadevi-Chandanwadi; 8,060 rats collected) seem the worst-affected.
BMC officials
said areas with many street vendors selling food or hotels dumping waste also
attract rats. "We are planning to increase our staff strength for the
suburbs. Rat droppings can spoil foodgrains and rats can bite through wires
causing severe damage. Recently, they chewed wires in a bank, tripping the
server for an entire day," said a BMC official.
Asked about the
mega bill for killing of rats, Naringrekar said the sixth pay commission came
into force in the period and the bill includes salary arrears paid to the
labourers.
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