The Chennai Corporation has announced that it has finished a drive to tackle the rat menace in the city. The drive was held by Corporation staff between August 29 and September 2, with a special focus on government hospitals  in the Corporation limits.

The local body has claimed it has killed a total of 2,248 rats in the week-long drive. Around 1,200 of the Corporation’s malaria workers, who also take care of rat control responsibilities placed over 26,000 traps with rat poison.

A majority of these traps were placed in government hospitals, while others were placed at markets, warehouses, beaches and other open areas.

“The Corporation does this on a regular basis anyway at markets and beaches, and also sometimes at hospitals, when the managements request us. So far this year, we have killed over 5,000 rats and now we have killed another 2,248 in this drive alone,” said Pooja Kulkarni, Corporation’s Joint Commissioner (Health).

She added that the civic body has taken definitive steps to address the rat menace in the extended areas. “We have had 1,200 malaria workers in the city areas. Most of the extended areas did not have these workers. Only Ambattur had a few malaria workers to take on the insect and rat menace. Now, we have employed 800 malaria workers on a contract basis to take up these operations in the extended areas,” said Kulkarni.

The 800 contract malaria workers have been employed on three-month contracts. .The civic body would reconsider a further course of action on this front at the end of the three months, said Kulkarni.

The Chennai Corporation is also in the process on training 45 pest control workers from the nine other Municipal Corporations of Tamil Nadu.

These workers have taken part in a training camp on September 3 and 4. The training has been divided into two sessions. While one deals with the theory, techniques and precautions, the other focuses on field training, where the workers place traps in the evenings and check on them the following morning.