Hyderabad: In a concerning incident which has been recurring year after year, rats have been wreaking havoc by biting the inmates of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential School and Junior College for Girls at Tekulapally village in Khammam municipal corporation.
The most recent incident reported was on Monday night, when 6 girls were bitten by rats while they were sleeping in their hostel located on the second floor of the building. The victims were identified as M Komali, V Lidiya, B Praharsha, K Amulya, B Sarika, and D Shrananya, all studying in Class 8.
They were taken to Khammam Government General Hospital, where they were given anti-rabies injections.
Not an isolated incident: Students
The students claim that this wasn’t an isolated incident, and that they have been living in constant fear of being bitten by rats while sleeping, mostly on their toes.
As per reports, the registers of the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) of the school, there were 20 girls who were diagnosed and treated for rat bites in 2024-25, and 18 girls treated in 2023-24.
According to M Sunitha, the principal of the school, the rodent invasion was happening due to the school being surrounded by thick bushes and shrubs, and due to the indiscriminate dumping of garbage near the school by the residents of a 2 BHK colony located adjacent to the school.
She also reportedly said that the students leaving the residues of eatables in their rooms also contributed to drawing the rats to their rooms.
Improper drainage, unclean bushes
Officials who inspected the school on Tuesday observed that an improper drainage facility also contributed to the situation.
She stated that rat traps and glue sheets offered little help, and that the Khammam municipal corporation has been apprised of the prevailing situation, and was requested to clear the bushes and regularly remove garbage from the area.
Incidentally, a Swachh Gurukul and plantation drive was held in the school’s premises on September 9, 2022, when the local corporator of Khammam Municipal Corporation, named N Koteswara Rao, was invited to the school.
He had seen the drainage problem in the school’s premises and had assured the school management that the drainage works would be completed by the end of that month itself.
M Swaroopa Rani, the zonal officer of Telangana Social Welfare Residential Institutions Society (TGSWREIS) has reportedly informed the media that a report has been sought from the school principal, and the works for closing the holes and drainage works will be taken up during the summer holidays.
It can be recalled that a Class 10 student named Samudra Laxmi Bhavani Keerthi, who was bitten by rats 15 times at the state-run BC Welfare Hostel, in Danavaigudem, Khammam, was partially paralysed in an arm and a leg, after an alleged overdose of rabies vaccine.
Keerthi was administered the vaccine every time she was bitten by a rat during March and November in 2024. Keerthi was admitted to the Mamta General Hospital in Khammam, where doctors had opined that an overdose of the vaccines might have caused the paralysis.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Vivek Bhoomi | 
