Rats become source of worry for Peshawarites

PESHAWAR: Tens of thousands of rats in the sewerage system and streets of the provincial capital have become a major source of worry for the Peshawarites after the government and the civic bodies have failed to act.

These big-size rats were nowhere in Peshawar just a few years ago. However, their number has been growing fast since 2014-15. There are a number of conspiracy theories about the spread of the rodents in the last few years since rats of this size were never found in Peshawar or any other district in the past.

Even the Peshawar High Court had to take notice of the situation after it was reported in the media and social media that huge size rats have attacked children and adults, and even killed a child in the Hassan Garhi area of Peshawar in February 2016.

There has been no plan from departments concerned to find any solution to stop an increase in the number of rodents in urban, suburban and rural towns. "One of our villagers has volunteered for a campaign to kill these rodents with a slingshot. He has killed over 1,900 rats in the last many months that he targeted on the streets, sewerage lines and anywhere he found," claimed a resident of Garhi Qamardin village on the Kohat Road.

Apart from biting people, the rats are causing huge damage to food items, other goods in houses and shops daily. These rodents break into houses, shops and godowns daily through sewerage lines, under the doors and through small holes in walls, becoming one of the worst nightmares for tens of thousands of families.

The Peshawar district government had once announced a cash reward of Rs 25 for catching or killing each rat. The situation, however, is still the same even after years since no solid measures were taken to control the situation.