Bihar's rat crisis: Floods, missing liquor, and patients attacked in hospitals

India Today

Watch how, in Bihar, rats have been repeatedly blamed for various crises—from causing floods and consuming seized liquor to harming patients in hospitals.

Transcript

00:00In Bihar, when things go wrong, the blame often falls on the rats.

00:03From the 2017 Bihar floods to missing alcohol to now,

00:07attacks on patients in hospitals,

00:09rats have oddly become the state's most unlikely yet consistent scapegoats.

00:13Leader of Opposition and RGT leader Tejasvi Yadav

00:16has stirred up fresh controversy on 20 May 2025,

00:19but this time with a bizarre and shocking claim

00:21that rats nibbled on the toes of a disabled patient

00:24at Patna's Nallanda Medical College and Hospital while he was asleep.

00:28Avdesh Kumar, admitted for a fractured leg,

00:31woke up to find his bed soaked in blood.

00:33While he lost multiple toes,

00:34the hospital staff have admitted to a rodent infestation,

00:37raising serious questions about hygiene and patient safety.

00:40But this isn't a standalone story.

00:43In November 2024, at the very same hospital, NMCH,

00:46rats allegedly gnawed out an eye from the body of a man

00:49who had succumbed to bullet injuries.

00:51The missing eye of Fantush Kumar was blamed on rodents.

00:54And it doesn't end here.

00:55Back in 2020, at Katihar Sadar Hospital,

00:58a bunch of rats were accused of drinking bottled salined water

01:01meant for patients,

01:02intended to be supplied to primary healthcare centres across the district.

01:06In 2017,

01:07Patna police officers claimed that rats had consumed

01:109 lakh litres of confiscated alcohol,

01:13conveniently explaining the mysterious disappearance of liquor in Bihar under prohibition.

01:17In the very same year, 2017,

01:19Bihar's then Water Resources Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh

01:22even blamed rats for causing the devastating floods

01:25that submerged over 20 districts in North Bihar.

01:28With every passing year,

01:30rodents seem to be at the heart of every crisis in Bihar,

01:33from natural disasters to hospital negligence

01:35or to cover up for administrative lapses.

01:38This is no longer just about bizarre headlines.

01:41It's about basic public safety,

01:43accountability and the state of Bihar's public institutions.

01:46It's high time that the focus shifted

01:48from blaming rats to fixing the rot.

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