Mumbai, July 18: To reduce the rodents menace in the city, the Mumbai's civic body has reportedly killed two lakh rats in a span of six months from January 2018 till June 2018, according to the Indian Express. The report further mentions that the work was carried out by a civic body-appointed NGO in suburban regions, and BMC workers in south Mumbai. The officials believe that exterminating the rodents in such large numbers has helped curb leptospirosis cases to a great extent since the instances of the cases are more prevalent in monsoons.

As per the reports, the highest number of rodents were found in the eastern suburban regions of Mumbai, which comprises Govandi, Chembur and Mankhurd areas. Around 32, 000 rats were killed in this division alone. Byculla came second with 23,762 rodents and Ghatkopar third with 23,685 rats killed.

The BMC team, which undertakes rodent extermination, work in the day and night shifts on daily basis but only in  South Mumbai. While for suburban regions, the civic body is yet to do any hirings. Besides this, the BMC also finds it challenging to hire the NGOs in the suburban areas. A condition in the BMC tender says that the NGO workers have to kill at least 100 rats a day to claim their money. Due to which, the NGO participation is poor whenever the tender is called. BMC officials justify the clause saying that the condition is kept only to ensure that the work is carried out diligently. Had there been no targets, the NGOs could fleece the civic body by killing only a few rats.

The BMC has also set a target for their own workers. According to BMC's head of pesticide, if a night shift workers kills 30 rats every single night, he could be promoted, appointed on a permanent basis and shifted to the day shift.

Meanwhile, to control the menace of rodents in the city, the civic body has also appealed to the citizens to keep their premises clean, fill burrows around their households and in their premises as soon as possible, and to install rat guards on pipelines in building premises, etc.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).