The city has launched a pilot program aimed at controlling the rat population in rodent-infested areas.

Beginning next month, city health inspectors will be fanning out in neighborhoods that have an abundance of rats.

The Department of Health will focus on areas such as the public housing complex on Webster Avenue, where the rodents are known to burrow and breed.

Health officials say they will be focusing on neighborhoods in the South Bronx, where past efforts to reduce the vermin have not been successful. Health inspectors will also be working with landlords and community boards.

Inspectors will be visiting local parks, reservoirs, sewers and subways where the rodents fester in an effort to identify and seal-up rat tunnels.