Rats! Is the plague upon us?

In an interesting - and unsettling - photo essay, the BBC has featured the troop of NRK (Night Rat Killers), 45 municipal workers of the BMC whose only function is to make nightly rounds of the city and kill up to 30 rats apiece, every night.

While the Beeb can be forgiven for its eccentric viewpoint - I guess they don't have any rats in England? - it did point out that there are fears that the Bubonic Plague - officially eradicated 30 years ago by the Indian Government - may be back. And it poses a greater threat in Bombay than it does elsewhere in India. Given the fact that Bombay houses close to 18 million people and - I guess - an equal number of rodents.

That set me thinking. It's all very well to blame the Government for the outbreak of any disease when it happens. It's an accepted fact that Government departments do not work. Will not work. But the other factor is the population density in Bombay. Far too many people, in too little a space. Isn't that the single reason why we generate 6000 tonnes of garbage everyday?

Why are our cities so crowded? Simply because all the homeless and migrant population is a convenient vote-bank for the politicians. And they're all concentrated in a small area - any urban megapolis is small as compared to size of the country - so the pickings are easy. It's easier to promise, not deliver and then intimidate and rule over a populace that is often ekeing out an existence from day-to-day.

So it's easy to project the urban cities as "employment centres" and "city of dreams" and denying any development in the rural areas, accelerating the migration to the cities. Given the proclivity of some segments of our popluation to breed like rabbits, its no wonder that a city like Bombay is choked with people and their garbage. Added to that the absence of any civic sense. The rich have their Potemkin villages, churning out an amazing volume of filth and eco-destructive garbage. The poor, adding to this volume simply because of their sheer numbers.

Add to that an apathetic and callous administration and you have all the ingredients of a disaster, simmering away in the melting pot that is Bombay. One day, we're going to have an epidemic on our hands and all because we're collectively just callous. Bubonic plague is the least of our worries.