SWAT: The residents of different areas of Mingora have demanded of the Water and Sanitation Services Company (WSSC) Swat to launch a rat-culling operation in the city.

Talking to reporters on Saturday, the people of Rang Mohallah, Esakhel, Malakanano Mohallah, Shahdara Watkey, Bagh Mohallah, Rahimabad, Haji Baba, Gul Kada, Amankot, Faizabad, Raja Abad and Malook Abad, said large number of big rats appeared in the streets and their homes at night.

“During the day rats stay hidden in sewers and other pits, but they start coming out at night in search of food,” said Abbas Ali, a resident of Shahdara Watkey, adding the rats were so big that children were afraid of them.

The residents said rates nibbled at anything which came their way, including wooden doors, adding people had used different pills and substances to kill rats, mice, and other rodents, but of no use. They said the rats even bit children.

“Rats not only destroy food items inside our houses but also damage doors and other wooden and plastic-made items. The rodents are dangerous as they can bite people, especially children,” Mohammad Ali, a resident of Haji Baba, said.

WSSC Swat chief executive officer Eng Shaida Mohammad told Dawn on contact that the civic body had last month launched a campaign to kill rats, saying special teams had been formed to eliminate the rodents.

“We have placed traps and rat-killing drugs in various locations,” he said, adding it was also the responsibility of every citizen to use rat poison in their homes, shops, offices and hotels as per the instructions of experts.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2021