VIJAYAWADA: The Forest Department is planning to set up three snake rescue centres in Suravaram (Visakhapatnam), Kasibugga (Srikakulam) and Talur (Vizianagaram) Ranges of the State. “We are going to set up the snake rescue centres and train people to aid in catching reptiles,” said Rahul Pandey, Chief Conservator of Forests, Visakhapatnam.
He further said that the Visakhapatnam Forest Department is helping in increasing the production of anti-venom in the State. Romulus Whitaker, who founded the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust Centre in Chennai, has been given permission by the Central government to collect venom samples of all snakes from the 29 States in the country to use them for anti-venom production. He recently visited Visakhapatnam to collect the snake venom samples. “We gave him venom samples of the snakes here. We also need anti-venom supply,” said Pandey.
A survey will also be taken up in villages in the State to collect data on the availability of anti-venom in Public Health Centres and hospitals. Murthy Kantimahanti who founded the Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society (EGWS) and co-founded the Save the Snake Society in the US, will be part of the team that conducts the survey. “More than 50,000 people die of snake bite in the country every year. WHO has placed snake bites in the ‘Most Neglected Tropical Diseases Category’. I hear majority of the snake bite cases are from Andhra Pradesh. Hence, we are taking up the survey to ascertain the extent of the availability of anti-venom across the State. If there is a deficiency, which I think there is, we will submit the data to the government and urge it to augment supply of anti-venom,” said Murthy.
There are very few snake catchers and rescue workers in the State. The Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society has already partnered with a number of snake rescue organisations in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur and Krishna districts to supply necessary equipment and funding to the initiative. “Murthy is supporting my organisation to carry out our work. We are cash-strapped and the government is not providing us any aid,” said C Kranti, founder of Snake Saviours Society of Jangareddigudem in West Godavari district.
The EGWS has also planned a slew of programmes to educate the rural people about why snakes should not be killed and the safety measures to be followed to protect themselves from snake bite. “We want to give them small tips on avoiding snake bites like carrying a torchlight while walking in the night, having mosquito nets while sleeping and avoiding sleep on the ground. We also want to make them understand the importance of snakes in the ecosystem. If venomous snakes are killed, there will not be venom to make anti-venom.”
