Wanted: Pied Piper of Vapi

VAPI: Raghu Dhakda wakes up in the middle of the night to check if his prized possession, his Toyota Fortuner SUV, is ok. Dhakda, whose luxurious bungalow is in one of Vapi's poshest localities, isn't worried about thieves or vandals - at least not human ones - but rodents. Large rats and in marauding numbers have the residents of this industrial town worried.
Dhakda has ample cause for worry. He spent more than Rs 40,000 to replace the electrical system of his new vehicle, which was gnawed away by rats.
Dhanpat Ranka had the side curtain airbags of his Volvo XC 90 SUV chewed up. This cost Ranka Rs 1 lakh in out-of-pocket expenses, because his insurance company turned down his claim. The insurer said such type of damage - caused by rodents - was not covered under its policy and there are no provisions for it. Janak Parekh, chairman of Vraj Monetary, a financial services firm, said his office received two claims for premium cars damaged by rodents recently.
It's not just luxury cars. Amit Patel, a senior technician at Kataria Automobiles in Vapi said their service centre receives complaints of rodent damage in more common cars on a regular basis. He says the damage is usually in vehicles parked near vacant plots which have piles of domestic garbage lying around. He further added: "Vehicles which have been parked away for extended periods also witness such damage, most often because the rats usually make nests in them as well."
Dimple Shah, who owns two Mercedes Benz sedans, has started putting tobacco gels and camphor in various parts of the vehicles to deter the ravenous vermin. "I would like to know what measures manufacturers recommend in such situations, as there are no clear guidelines," said Shah.
The vermin aren't just raising the hackles of car owners. Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPC), which supplies piped cooking gas to most parts of Vapi and its surrounding areas by its 400 km network, are also worried by these pests.
"Rats or rodents hone their teeth - which keep growing - by chewing on domestic gas supply lines. These have caused a disproportionate number of complaints about gas leaks from punctured pipelines," said Ashok Solanki, GSPC's operational manager and maintenance in-charge for the Vapi region.
"In the last three months we received around 15 complaints of gas leakages, where the punctures in domestic supply lines were caused by rats. The majority of them were handled in emergency fashion, late at night or in the early hours of the morning. We have escalated this problem to our head office and are expecting a proper solution to the rodent damage problem here," Solanki said.
Perhaps the pipeline operator will have a pied piper available.