After coronavirus, prickly caterpillars wreak havoc in Kurla

As the entire nation is busy containing the coronavirus pandemic, prickly caterpillars are now wreaking havoc in Kurla. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials revealed that they are receiving more than 30 complaints every day, and residents are complaining of pain, blisters and rashes following the caterpillar contact.

Residents also claim that the stinging caterpillar menace is preventing children and senior citizens from going into the bathroom in the night. It should be noted that stinging caterpillars grow up to be moths, but during their infant stage, they have quill-like hair that can pierce the human skin. As the skin penetrates human skin, it could cause bleeding, itching, blisters, and rashes.

“They emerge after monsoon showers in September and October. The BMC is trying to control the nuisance, but we have only small-sized pumps attached to the rooftops. Now, we are getting a vehicle-mounted pump to get rid of this,” Nitin Dhobe, Pest Control Officer, Mumbai Mirror reports.

Dhobe revealed that these creatures are irritating but are not poisonous, and they are not as dangerous as bees or ticks.

Local corporator leader Kiran Landge these caterpillars are usually found in the toilets in the areas of Ambedkar Nagar and Ashok Nagar. However, he made it clear that this is for the first time these creatures are being spotted in such large numbers.