To check leptospirosis, BMC kills over 2 lakh rodents in 6 months

Apart from spearing rats, the pesticide department also kills rats by poison baiting, spraying poisonous gases in burrows and using rat traps. The maximum number of rats (32,953) were killed in M (east) ward comprising areas such as Govandi and Deonar, followed by E ward (Nagpada, Byculla) and N ward (Ghatkopar and Vikhroli) where 23,752 and 23,685 rats were killed respectively.

The civic body had appointed 29 rat killers for the island city. In the suburbs, the civic body had to outsource the activity of killing rats.

“Not everyone can kill rats as it is a specialised job. Right killers will soon be appointed in western and eastern suburbs too as it is a long pending demand,” said Rajan Naringrekar, pesticide officer of the BMC.

He added that the work has been contracted in the suburbs. “Already, several NGOs are working under Swachh Mumbai Prabodhan Abhiyan. These NGOs have been going for house-to-house collection of garbage for the past two years. The proposal for the same has been sent for approval of senior officials,” said an official, adding that as per minimum wage laws, the remuneration has now been increased from Rs 293 to Rs 544 for killing 30 rats.

The civic body has also appealed to residents to keep their premises clean, fill burrows around their households and in their premises as soon as possible, install rat guards on pipelines in building premises, etc.