A few years ago, while discussing Mumbai's health, I was aghast to know that there were nearly nine rats for every human in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. This translates to a whopping 108 million rats at the lowest human population figure of 12 million. That then, is literally a disease time bomb waiting to explode into an epidemic. It dawned on me that besides our housing, traffic and malaria-dengue woes, this issue should be a matter of highest concern among our urban planners. On checking with my sources, I realised that the problem doesn't even exist on the list of urgent urban concerns.

What was most worrisome was that the control of these menacing creatures, which can climb up to the fifth floor of buildings via pipes, was left to the individual.