Lucknow division of Northern Railway spent Rs 69.5 lakh to catch 168 rodents during 2020-22

RTI activist Chandrashekhar Gaur had filed a query to five divisions of Northern Railway on the amount of money that is spent to catch rodents. Lucknow division said it spent Rs 69.5 lakh to catch 168 rats and Ambala division said it spent Rs 39.3 lakh on pest control but did not provide any information on the amount spent on rodents. Delhi division only said pest control is handled by companies on contract-basis while no response was received from Firozpur and Moradabad divisions.

Bhopal: The Lucknow division of the Northern Railway has spent a whooping Rs 69.5 lakh during 2020-2022 to catch 168 rats, which means that around Rs 23.3 lakh is spent in a year for trapping rodents. This has been revealed in a reply to an RTI query filed by an activist Chandrashekhar Gaur from Madhya Pradesh.

The RTI activist had asked as to how much is spent for catching rodents. To which, the Lucknow division replied that between 2020 to 2022, 168 rats were caught and a total of Rs 69.5 lakh was spent on it. This means around Rs 23.2 lakh is spent per year for catching rats which in turn points out that more than Rs 41,000 was spent to catch one rat.

On the question of who catches the rats, the Lucknow division answered that the responsibility of controlling rodents and insects has been given to Central Warehousing Corporation in Gomti Nagar in Lucknow. The expenditure of pest control is borne under the head of maintenance in railways under the respective division of Northern Railway.

Gaur has filed similar RTI queries in four other divisions of Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur and Moradabad under the Northern Railway. But, no response has been received from Firozpur and Moradabad divisions till now while Ambala and Delhi divisions have not furnished a clear answer to the question.

For instance, Ambala division has replied from April 2020 to March 2023, Rs 39.3 lakh was spent on pest control and fumigation but it was not clarified as to how much money was spent on catching rodents. Also, it stated that the work of pest control has been given to JS Pest Control Company in 2020-2023.

The Delhi division said that a contract-based system is in place for pest control. It has not given any other information in this regard. "I will follow-up with the other divisions as well," Gaur said.