Rs 10 lakh rat at CST!

No longer will rats on trains make you jump out of your skin, as railway authorities plan to hire pest control agency by November end

The Central Railway may soon get a Pied Piper to take on the armies of rodents that have almost laid siege to stations and trains. After constant complaints from commuters of rats running wild on board locals, railway officials have vowed to make the CR route rodent free.u00a0u00a0


Illustration/Satish Acharya

By November end, the railway authorities will zero in on a private pest control company to put a stop to the infestation. The tenders for this will be floated shortly and are expected to be finalised in two months, confirmed railway officials.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Sriniwas Mudgerikar, chief PRO, Central Railway, said, "The CR has always taken effective measures to control the menace of rodents as well as other pests inside trains and station areas. But since the rat menace has grown we have decided to rope in a private pest control agency."

The project will first be started on an experimental basis at major CR stations.

"The initiative will be taken up at major stations like CST and Dadar on a pilot basis and will later be extended
to other stations. It will cost Rs 10 lakh per annum to cover a major station. However, the expenditure
will vary depending on the station area and the number of platforms," he added.

Danger ahead
But why spend lakhs on killing rats? "Lakhs of rats infest trains and breed along tracks and platforms and they can cause a lot of trouble. We have decided to hand over the task to a pest control agency only after several attempts made by us to eliminate rodents have failed," said a railway official, requesting anonymity. "There have been cases where trains have been delayed due to infestation of rats. They have also bitten cables of signals leaving them dysfunctional."

And that's not all. Sources say that rats dig burrows near tracks making the soil loose, which could prove fatal in the long run.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Going for the kill
According to railway authorities, the pest control body which will be given the task to get rid of rodents will use anti-coagulant rodenticides and eco-friendly, non-toxic superior quality glue traps to catch rats. The contractors will also be responsible for disposing the rats. "We cannot say how many rats will be trapped or killed through this initiative. But we will ensure that tracks, trains and platforms will be completely free of rodents," said an official.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
u00a0
The railway's board has sanctioned Rs 20 lakh per year for the maintenance of long-distance and local trains, which includes driving away insects from compartments. "Local trains are washed every 15 days and pest control is also done regularly. We also apply boric acid with white flour to drive away insects on trains. But all this is not sufficient to check the growing rat population," said railway authorities, requesting anonymity.

It's your faultu00a0
And CR officials blame commuters for the nuisance. "Most commuters throw food items on tracks and platforms, which attract rodents," said an officer.

"We are appealing to commuters to help us fight the problem. They can throw food items in dustbins and not on tracks and platforms," added Mudgerikar.