Authorities at New Delhi railway station have rolled up their sleeves to deal with a swarm of unwanted guests -- rats -- who have taken up residence on the premises and are proving to be quite a menace.
This problem on the station premises has been giving railway authorities sleepless nights and they have now launched a mega exercise to drive these creatures away.
Officials said that the railway station has turned into a breeding ground for rats with packs of these rodents scurrying around the cloakroom, inside the parcel room, in the canteen and in the restaurants.
Also Read
In view of the above, a massive operation has been launched to identify the hiding places of the rodents inside the railway station so that repellents can be placed there along with rat traps.
"We have made several attempts to drive them away, like sealing their burrows in the cloakroom with cement, but nothing seems to work. The menace subsides for some time only for it to reoccur," said a senior official at New Delhi railway station.
It is learnt that the area worst affected by the menace is the station's cloakroom, where rats are in the habit of chewing up passengers' luggage.
A railway official said that, to some extent, the passengers themselves are to blame for this as they throw food items on the platforms and all over the station, which serves to draw rats to the premises.
"The cloakroom is just next to the canteen, due to which the rodents are always present there. Also, passengers at times leave edible items in their luggage in the cloakroom, which attracts the rats," he said.
Railway officials said they have received numerous complaints about rodents damaging passengers' luggage, nibbling at packaged food, etc., and are working to contain the menace.
