Ludhiana: Civil hospital ropes in PAU team to get rid of rodent menace

The three-storey building of Mother and Child Hospital has been infested with rats for quite some time now; from the labour room on the ground floor to the post-natal ward on the second floor, all have turned into a “playground” for rats, said a health worker

The authorities at the civil hospital here have roped in a zoology team from the Punjab Agricultural University to help them get rid of rats at the mother and child wing of the medical facility.

The three-storey building of Mother and Child Hospital has been infested with rats for quite some time. (HT File Photo)

“We have asked a zoology team from the university to visit us to carry out a proper plan to make our hospital free of rodents,” said senior medical officer Dr Mandeep Kaur Sandhu.

“First, they will identify the colonies of the rats and then pump them with zig phosphide, a poison used to kill rats,” she said.

She further said that they were also planning to dig pits with movable gates around the hospital so that rats could slip into them and not escape.

“Right now, the varsity is busy with the Kisan Mela. We are expecting the team by March 19,” she said.

The three-storey building of Mother and Child Hospital has been infested with rats for quite some time now. From the labour room on the ground floor to the post-natal ward on the second floor, all have turned into a “playground” for rats, said a health worker.

The situation had reached a point where the hospital’s false ceiling had collapsed multiple times due to the constant scurrying of rodents, forcing authorities to remove it and expose the ducts.

Rats have infiltrated every nook and corner of the ward, from the ceiling to the beds, under tables, and even inside dustbins.

A cleaning staff member complained that the problem existed because the hospital was open from all sides and the doors of the wards seldom remained closed.

“No matter how often we clean the wards, these rats always come back,” the staff member said.

Kaalu Kumar, whose 23-year-old wife has been admitted here for one month now after an operation, said “They have to stay vigilant all the time to make sure that the rats didn’t get into their food or utensils.”