Over 1.11 lakh rodents were killed from January this year; falling short of night rat killers, BMC says
Last year, 15 per cent (51,691) of rodents were killed in the F-North ward. This ward includes part of Dadar East, Matunga, and Sion
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has killed more than 1,100 rodents per day since January 2022. However, with BMC facing a shortage of private night rat killers, a few administrative wards, especially in south Mumbai areas have no agency to take care of the rat menace.
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According to data shared by the civic body, the Insecticide Department has killed over 1.11 lakh rodents from January to April 2022, whereas last year the civic authority killed 3.23 lakh rats. It means the BMC had killed 900 rodents per day last year, while nearly 10 per cent of the rodents were killed in the H-east ward. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s personal residence Matoshree falls under the ward. The lowest number of rodents were killed in Borivli (R-north).
In 2020, the year the pandemic broke out, BMC had killed 1.98 lakh rodents. "We are trying to appoint night killers for all 24 wards, but the agencies are not responding,” Rajan Naringrekar, Head of the BMC's insecticide department said. “Rodent killing and catching is a continuous process throughout the year. We get complaints from citizens, however our staff is vigilant,” he added.
The process
“The dead rodents are counted in three stages — firstly, the dead rodents are handed over to BMC van drivers, then they are taken to the ward office for counting, lastly they are taken to the laboratory. As there is no scope for any malpractice, the night killers hesitate to take up the job,” an official said.
Due to fear of leptospirosis during the monsoon season, the BMC carries out the process before the season,
he added.
Last year, 15 per cent (51,691) of rodents were killed in the F-North ward. This ward includes part of Dadar East, Matunga, and Sion. In Chembur (M-west) ward BMC killed 33,539 rodents. In Bandra, Santacruz’s East (H-east) 32,056 rodents were killed last year.
“The civic body uses a 3-D formula to tackle rats. Deny entry by rat-proofing the building, denying them shelter by discarding clutter or
scrap and denying them food by properly disposing of garbage. The trapping, poison-baiting, fumigation is done under the insecticide department’s watch,” said an official.
In areas such as Nepean Sea Road and Malabar Hill, one may rarely finds rats other than in sewers. This is because all the buildings have rat-proofing and cleanliness is maintained,” the official added.
Wards without night rat killers
A (Churchgate, Colaba, and Navy Nagar), B (Masjid Bunder, Mohd. Ali Road, Dongri and Bhendi Bazar), C (Pydhonie and Bhuleshwar), E (Byculla, Madanpura, Agripada, Nagpada, Dockyard Road, Reay Road, Chichpokli), K East (Andheri East, Jogeshwari East, and Vile Parle East), K west (Andheri West, Jogeshwari West, and Vile Parle West), P south (Goregaon), P north (Malad, Manori, Marve, Aksa, and Madh), R central (Borivli), R north (Dahisar), S (Bhandup, Powai, Kanjurmarh, Vikhroli and Nahur) and T (Mulund)
Ward-wise kill list
. R north: 1,173
. B: 1,435
. T: 1,836
. C: 1,928
. R central: 2,131
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