KOLKATA: A rare bonhomie has been witnessed between the ruling party and the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly over an issue that has been haunting them for quite some time – Rats.
Several generations of rats have seen the rise and fall of Left Front government and the winds of change ‘paribortan’ with the ascendance of Mamata Banerjee to the chief minister’s seat. However, despite several attempts to tackle the rat problem in the Assembly, the rodent army continues to rule the roost in the tunnels beneath the Assembly. And, they do not distinguish between the ruling and opposition MLAs when it comes to unleashing their wrath.
The cars of leader of opposition Abdul Mannan and former Pradesh Congress Committee chief and present Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Manas Bhunia, who has crossed over to Trinamool Congress, were recently 'vandalised' by an army of rats. The petrol coupons were found torn to pieces and several wires cut. The cars of both the MLAs are parked in the Assembly garage after dropping them at home. “There is an extensive network of rat tunnels in the Assembly from the garage to the bushes near the walls to other areas,” a senior clerk said.
Many fear that important documents in the Assembly, where full computerisation is yet to be achieved like in many other government institutions, may be under the rat threat. After complaints of several ruling and opposition MLAs, the Assembly staffers are now planning a major weeding out operation to reduce the rat menace in the Assembly, sources revealed.
However, in the absence of a ‘Pied piper of Hamelin’, the authorities are clueless on where to begin the massive pest control operation. “With the end of the winter session, this may be the opportune time for a massive pest control. However, the tunnel network may be so complex, as the rats are here since ages, we doubt that only a handful may be killed,” an Assembly staffer said