There have been 16 deaths in the city due to leptospirosis in the past 10 days. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now upped its efforts to control the rodent menace. It has a Rs 17 crore annual budget allocated for the same, but even with that considerable budget, the civic authorities are not looking into one vital aspect, providing safety gear to its workers. The Class IV employees who were on the streets placing rat poison did not have gloves, masks or gumboots, exposing them not only to leptospirosis, ironically the very scourge they are hoping to stop spreading but also zinc phosphide poisoning.

The BMC’s army comprises six Class IV employees from each ward, making it a total of 152. These employees are to identify rat holes, where they will place rat poison. The bait? Zinc Phosphide - a rodenticide that will kill the rat within 12 hours.