Rodent menace reduced in trains, railway stations during pandemic

Visakhapatnam: The rodent menace in trains and railway stations reduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, mainly because there were no passengers to discard food carelessly which attracts the rodents.

The railways which annually spends at least '10 crore on controlling pests and rodents has so far spent only 10-15 per cent of that amount since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, railway sources said.

This has been attributed to running of limited trains, drastic fall in the footfall of passengers at stations, opening of limited number of commercial shops on platforms, besides taking up hygienic operations like sanitising premises as part of the Covid-19 protocol.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a railway official at the Waltair railway division here said that in Vizag alone, 2,000 to 2,500 rats are caught per year and the railways spends Rs 50 lakh on pest and rodent control. During the pandemic, nearly 10 per cent of the share was spent on rodent control and the rest of the money were spent on implementing Covid-19 protocols.

A third-party agency is deployed to check the rats by using various techniques including use of approved chemicals, glue boards, and traps. Locating burrows of the rats and filling them with mud and stones is also part of the rodent control measures, the railway official added.

Gopal R. Surabattula, secretary of the Animal Rescue Organisation, said that the best way to control rodents in any public area is to keep eliminate food sources and have clean surfaces such as floors, platforms and coaches frequently.

"Ammonia-soaked cotton balls can also act as a good repellent for rodents. The balls can be placed in the coaches, washrooms and under seats," Gopal said.