BENGALURU: With the number of COVID-19 cases on the rise, residents are making calls to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) asking them to clear bat colonies in their neighbourhoods. However, experts say people need not fear contracting the virus from bats.

Citizens are keeping a close watch on bat colonies and are avoiding trees and buildings inhabited by bats. 
“Since every thing is quiet because of the lockdown, the shrill calls of bats at night are even scarier. The BBMP forest cell is not answering our calls,” said Mohan R, a resident of Nagarbhavi. 

BBMP’s forest cell received numerous complaints from areas such as Malleswaram, Jayanagar and Mysuru Road among others. During the Nipah outbreak too the cell had received many such calls. “We also got a call from Raj Bhavan at the end of March. However, we found the bats merely shifted from one tree to another. We have also got calls from senior BBMP engineers to get trees removed because of the bat colonies,” a BBMP forest cell official told TNIE on condition of anonymity. 

BBMP deputy conservator of forests, Ranganathswamy said BBMP was attending to complaints but added that it was not possible to visit all places due to the shortage of staffers. Susheela M, a resident of Banaswadi said the BBMP should clear bat colonies while undertaking sanitisation and fogging. Experts said that the fears of contracting COVID-19 from bats were largely unfounded. Dr K H Sheshadri, post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, said “Studies show that bats need intermediatory species for a virus to breed. In the case of COVID-19, it is found that the virus spread from bats to pangolins and then to humans. This was because of illegal trade of pangolins.”