Monsoon ready: Over 81,000 rats killed in Mumbai in first four months

The hired personnel are paid Rs 18 for each rat killed.

Over 81,000 rats were killed by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) between January and April this year in its campaign to prevent leptospirosis ahead of coming monsoon.

On an average, 700 to 1,000 rats were killed per day. (File Photo)

“We trapped and killed 81,500 rats during this period, averaging 700 to 1,000 kills per day,” said a senior civic official.

Apart from using its own personnel, MCGM has also hired six private firms to catch and kill rats. They are paid Rs 18 for each rat killed.

The drive was part of a year-long effort to prevent outbreak of leptospirosis, a deadly bacterial infection which spreads mainly through rodents, during the rainy season, he said.

The killed rats are tested for infection and later disposed of at a remote part of Deonar dumping ground in the city, said Rajan Naringrekar, insecticide officer of MCGM.

Rats are killed by using various methods, such as poison-baiting, spraying insecticides in their holes as well as use of traps.