Pakistan is grappling with a severe rat infestation in its Parliament House. In a unique approach, the neighbouring country has turned to using cats to tackle the rat menace. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has announced a plan to employ hunting cats and has allocated a budget of 1.2 million Pakistani rupees for this initiative.
The rat infestation has impacted the Parliament, with rodents damaging crucial and confidential files in the Senate and National Assembly. They have also caused damage by chewing through computer wires.
To combat the issue, the CDA plans to employ private pest control experts and will set up special mesh traps to capture the rats. The problem came to light when an official committee requested records from 2008, only to find that many files had been chewed by rats.
The majority of the infestation is concentrated on the first floor, which houses the offices of opposition leaders and hosts numerous political meetings. While rats are less visible during the day, they cause significant damage at night.
National Assembly spokesperson Zafar Sultan told the BBC that the rats in the Parliament are so large that even cats might be intimidated by them. An official from the National Assembly noted that when the building is empty in the evening, rats scurry around as if in a marathon, causing fear among first-time visitors.
In response to the crisis, advertisements have been placed in Pakistani newspapers seeking a pest control company to address the rat problem. So far, only two companies have shown interest in solving the issue.
