KMC to spread awareness for checking proliferation of rats

KOLKATA: The Health department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation will create awareness among the residents of the city for keeping proliferation of rats in check with the latter being responsible for causing damage to roads at several places in the city.

Councillor of ward 48 Biswarup Dey raised the issue of rodents causing problems in his ward spanned across Bowbazar and its adjacent areas in central Kolkata at the recent monthly meeting of KMC.

Dey said the rats were creating fissures in the earth underneath the road causing damage. The underground drainage system is also getting affected due to loosening of the earth. He suggested a masterplan with the help of experts to address this issue, claiming that the problem is common to most places in the city.

Dey pointed out that major thoroughfares like Amherst Steert, B.B Ganguly Street, Gopal Mallick Lane , Ramkanai Adhikari Lane had been badly affected due to the rat menace.

Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh, who is also in-charge of the Health department of KMC, reiterated that the civic body has to emphasise upon awareness with no concrete plan of checking rats available at hand.

"Even a city like Paris with all sorts of modern amenities have failed to control rats. A Corporation in Mumbai had come out with a masterplan for checking rats a decade back and a team from KMC had gone there for examining the model. However, it failed to yield fruitful results compelling the civic body to shelve off the same. So we will stress on awareness.The respective councillors will have to take up the responsibility to circulate dos and don't's for warding off the rodents," Ghosh said.

The awareness message, includes keeping food in metal plates instead of plastic, keeping fruits, vegetables and cooked food always under cover, to be vigilant about holes in and around the residences and plug such holes. If needed , the residents will have to use insecticides or traps for catching the rats.