The 1958–59 "mautâm" resulted in the recorded deaths of at least 100 people, besides heavy loss to human property and crops. Some elderly villagers in the undeveloped, more traditional region, recalling this event, have claimed that their warnings based on folk traditions were dismissed as superstition by the government of Assam, which then ruled what is now the present state of Mizoram. An estimated two million rats were killed and collected by the locals, after a bounty of 40 paisa was placed on each. However, even after the increase in the rat population was noted, preparations by the government to avoid a famine were limited.