Ludhiana: Worried over the presence of rodents in internal parts of the city especially under flyovers, the MC officials are planning to involve experts from the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) to help find a permanent solution to the rat problem.
Earlier, the railways had also approached the PAU experts to solve the problem of rats near railway tracks.
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said the MC had received so many complaints from internal parts of the city where residents had pointed out how rats had weakened the base of structures. They had come to know about a medicine, which has been developed by PAU, that can be used to kill these rats, he added.
He said they would ask the PAU experts to suggest some method through which they could spray the medicine inside the rat hole.
Meanwhile, the civic authorities are yet to ascertain the exact cause behind the collapse of the retaining wall of Gill Chowk flyover, but the officials had blamed the rodents for the incident.
MC commissioner Jaskiran Singh said some experts who had visited the wall collapsed site near Gill Chowk flyover had suggested keeping the medicine near ratholes. But MC wanted to sprinkle medicines inside the holes as the medicine could be harmful for stray cattle, dogs or even some human if kept outside, he added.
The retaining wall of the flyover had collapsed on May 13 following which the residents of the area had blamed the civic officials for being indifferent towards the garbage dump under the bridge that had helped the rat population grow.
The officials are finding alternate sites to shift the garbage dump to curb the problem of rodents.
Importantly, traffic jams have become a daily affair since the wall collapse. In the peak hours, jams last almost for an hour. All connecting roads have also been choked.