Public Health Minister Dr Tanaji Sawant in the state assembly on Thursday announced a probe into the expenditure of ₹ 1 crore incurred by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) through a campaign to kill rats in five wards to prevent the spread of a plague in the city.
Dr Sawant was replying to a question raised by the BJP legislator Ashish Shelar, who demanded an inquiry in the matter. He questioned who had seen the money spent to kill rats in those five wards.
"One and a half years ago, the BMC had given a contract to kill rats in 5 wards to arrest the plague epidemic. ₹ 1 crore was spent to kill rats in these 5 wards," accused Shelar and demanded an inquiry on how many rats were killed with the claimed amount and asked about who was given the contract for this work.
In his reply, Dr Sawant said the committee will investigate how much money was actually spent on this campaign, and how many rats were killed.
Dr Sawant said that this issue is serious, adding that there is a need to go deeper into how many rats killed with ₹ 1 crore.
