NA Panel Discusses Mice Infestation, Snubs Issues
The committee members said that the rats damaged the valuables of the ministers living in the lodges as well as gnawed supply lines
National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on House and Library chaired by Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri discussed the ragging issue of mice infestation in the Parliament lodges.
Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) have time and again expressed grave concerns over the issue in Parliament lodges as several of them have been bitten by the rodents.
While expressing anger over the hygiene conditions, Qasim Khan Suri said that it is impossible to eradicate the rodents from the lodges with poor hygiene and sanitation conditions.
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Meanwhile, the members expressed deep concerns over the rat-biting incidents in the lodges and demanded immediate steps should be taken to control the situation.
The committee members said that the rats damaged the valuables of the ministers living in the lodges as well as gnawed supply lines.
Not only this, the lawmakers asserted that the steps taken by Capital Development Authority (CDA) were unsatisfactory and the authority seemed at loss to control the infestation.
A few weeks back, a woman lawmaker Shahida Rehmani was bitten by a rat inside her room when she was asleep.
This is not the only instance when a mouse bit a lawmaker. Earlier, MNA Musarrat Rafique was also bitten by a rodent in the lodges.
A campaign to catch rats in Parliament House was launched in 2016 and according to a report released in December of the same year, CDA had awarded the contract to a private company.
As many as 430 rats were captured, including one from the Prime Minister’s Chamber at that time.
According to the report, 236 rats were caught in June 2016, 42 in July, 34 in August, 34 in September, 32 in October, 28 in November, and 24 in December.
The anti-mice campaign has apparently reduced the rodents but failed to provide a permanent cure for the issue.
The problem of mice infestation in the lodges, Parliament house, and the official residence of senators and MNAs has taken a serious turn over the years.
