Ganesha’s choice of vehicle is a strange one. The rat has almost never been looked at as beneficent, not even in the age when the Puranas were written. Mythologists believe that Ganapati’s transport is an obstacle that he subdues, a symbol of base desire the god overcomes. No matter how hard he tries, Pramod* will not be able to explain this fine interpretation to his many dissenters. A night rat killer (NRK), Pramod leaves home just after midnight. He wears gloves and boots. He carries with him a flashlight, which he shines into the eyes of unsuspecting rats. “The minute they freeze, I use my stick to strike them on the head. The point of impact has to be precise. You have to aim at the right spot. The blow should be fatal,” he explains. Around Ganesh Chaturthi, his job becomes harder.

The internet and The Independent estimate Mumbai to have a population of 88 million rats (BMC officials don’t have a number), but for believers, the rat, mouse and shrew are first objects of veneration. Their interest in Pramod’s nocturnal activities, though, is seasonal. The NRK’s problems can be more perennial. He fears dogs, alcoholics and, most of all, drug addicts. “They keep saying, ‘Why are you killing rats? What if we were to kill you?’ They sometimes shoo us away, and worse, they even beat us.” Employed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Pramod is paid ₹11 for every rat he kills. In a night, he is expected to kill 30. A Pied Piper of sorts, this NRK has been ridding Mumbai of rats since 2010, but he insists his real name be withheld. “The BMC has asked us to never speak to journalists.”

The civic body’s insecticide officer, Rajan Naringrekar, justifies the gag order. “This activity [night rat killing] will be discontinued if the press end up stressing on just this story,” he says. Naringrekar goes on to make reference to a letter the BMC had received in 2012. The Animal Welfare Board of India had written in, asking them to catch and euthanise rats more humanely. Clubbing was altogether unacceptable. Though the BMC uses three other methods to eliminate rats — poison baiting, spraying poisonous gases in borrows, rat traps — many traumatised Mumbaikars like Farooque Dhala and Irfan Machiwala believe if their city’s rat menace needs to be controlled, NRKs are the only hope.

Sitting in a Mahim housing society, Dhala implores his visitors to look around. “We’ve renovated this building, but if you were to have seen it five years ago, when the workers first came, you’d have seen how terribly the rats had ruined its foundation. I discovered that rats had destroyed my tanks.” During the monsoons, says the film production manager, rats urinate in accumulated water, leaving the area even more prone to leptospirosis. Between the months of July and August this year, the disease had claimed the lives of six Mumbai residents, and according to social activist Machiwala, “it usually affects people like sweepers, who don’t have a choice but to wade through infected water.”

While Machiwala speaks of rats cutting through the wires of electric meters and of cars left innocently parked, Dhala brings out a file of letters that he and Machiwala have written as part of the Mahim Residents Group. Dhala complains that Mahim — part of the G/North Ward, which includes Prabhadevi, Shivaji Park, Matunga and Dharavi — has the kind of rat menace that a sole designated NRK cannot solve. “We have just one NRK who visits the area once a week. He comes at 1 am and leaves at 3.30 am. In that time, he kills just 30 rats.” Machiwala adds, “We stay up and travel with the NRK. They must know which areas are the worst-affected. We count all the 30 rats.”

The BMC had once told Dhala and Machiwala that rats make burrows in Mahim because the area has numerous food and sweet shops. Dhala now counters, “They need to understand that our future is at stake.” Naringrekar says that the BMC’s insistence on cleanliness isn’t a cosmetic one. “For rat control, you need sanitation, cleanliness and public participation. Rats must be denied shelter, food and entry. Vada pav vendors, for instance, just make it easier for them to survive.” Despite its perceived indifference, though, the BMC did kill approximately one lakh rats between the months of January and June this year.

In the past three months, the civic body had released two rounds of advertisements, inviting agencies of the Swachch Mumbai Prabodhan Abhiyaan (SMBA) to shoulder the responsibility of night rat killing, but in 18 of Mumbai’s 24 wards, the response has been feeble. “Now we’ll extend this to all governmental organisations and NGOs,” adds Naringrekar.

Executive health officer Padmaja Keskar likes looking on the bright side of things. She is still hopeful that by increasing the rate of every killed rat from ₹11 to ₹18, the BMC will engineer more enthusiasm.

“People perhaps thought it’s too difficult a job. We’re talking about killing 100-200 rats now. Think about how hard it must be to kill just one,” she says. When asked if she was at all concerned about animal rights activists this time, she says, “Humans are more important than rats.”

(*Name changed on request )

Shreevatsa Nevatia is a freelance writer

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW