News
CMC declares war on rats
The head of CMC’s Pest Control, Public Health Inspector W.G Karunathilake
The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is to undertake a month-long rat eradication programme to combat their increasing numbers in the city, Colombo CMC’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni said.
The plan is a large scale rat poisoning programme to combat the menace that has led to many public complaints, Dr. Wijayamuni said.
The CMC will distribute pesticides free of charge mainly in the Colombo Fort, Pettah, Borella, Wellawatte and Maradana areas where the rat population has increased rapidly. The rat poison will be distributed under the instructions of the Registrar of Pesticides.
Dr .Wijayamuni said that this was the most effective manner in which to reduce the rodent population in the city but warned people with young children to ensure that pesticides and poisons are kept out of their reach.
“Killing of rats is cruel but we have to take public concerns into consideration and ensure that we minimise rat borne diseases such as plague, leptospirosis and rabies,” he said.
The head of CMC’s Pest Control, Public Health Inspector W.G Karunathilake said that PHIs have already started to distribute the rat poison to around 1,330 households.
“We are distributing the poison to wholesale and retail shops as well as markets while households are provided with poison cubes with clear instructions on how to use them.
He explained that people will have to retrieve the dead rats and ensure they are disposed off as the CMC does not have theman power to undertake such a cleanup operation.
Several people in the Colombo city the Sunday Times contacted said that there was a need to combat the rat population but the CMC had to be cautious about how it went about eradicating the pests.
Meanwhile environmentalist and researcher at Biodiversity Conservation Research Circle Supun Lahiru Prakash said that Sri Lanka is home to many small mammals and rodents which are unique and they too are threatened when such mass scale poison distribution take place.
“There are natural predators such as shrews and bandicoots that keep other pest insect numbers down but even they will be dying in this type of rat eradication programme.
The CMC should first conduct research on the environment impact of such an exercise before taking action” he said. The natural food chain too would be affected with animals that feed on rats too being affected by this kind of program.
He added that by clearing up garbage dumps in the city, the rat population can be reduced.
He also said that foreign countries introduced pythons to control rats naturally, We can always use rat snakes that are harmless. Yet such plans cannot be carried out because the public will exterminate the snakes before they reduce the rats.
CMC officials distribute poison cubes and give intructions to people. Pix by Amila Gamage
