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Fear of diseases dogs Mumbai as BMC fails to control rodent population

The rat population in the city is on the rise and this has increased the fear of spread of leptospirosis.

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The rat population in the city is on the rise and this has increased the fear of spread of leptospirosis. Thirteen cases of the killer disease have already been reported this monsoon and two patients have succumbed to the illness. Although rats are the primary cause behind leptospirosis, it is also transmitted by dogs, rabbits, cows, sheep, raccoons and certain marine mammals.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) insecticide department, rats are proliferating at an annual rate of 10%. Statistics revealed that over 1.09 lakh rats have been caught/killed in the first five months of 2010. In comparison, 1.94 lakh rodents were killed in 2009. Officials also said that the numbers of those trapped was one-tenth of the actual rat population.  

While the rat menace continues to be chronic in parts of the island city, where 85,131 rodents have been trapped so far this year, suburbs too are facing increasing trouble from it. Over 13,000 rodents have been trapped from these parts till now.    
According to a senior civic official, more and more rats are being trapped because of the efficiency of the insecticide department.

The BMC has spent Rs8.11 crore in the past five years in rodent control operations. Over 11 lakh rodents have been trapped in the city since 2005. 

The civic body, however, blamed the citizens for dumping garbage and food items in open, which they say act as catalysts for breeding of rats.  

The BMC has identified 165 areas infested by rats. However, there is severe scarcity of manpower with only 44 night rat killers (NRK) and 130 rat trappers available. The night rat killers have been deployed only in the seven wards of the island city, while the suburban wards go without any. A senior official from the insecticide department said, “We had laid out a proposal last year to recruit 183 night rat killers for the chronic suburban wards. We are still waiting for the sanction. In 2009, only 33 night rat killers were recruited. The recruitment before that was twenty years
back.”

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