ANI (India) 01 July 05 Now, a helpline for Bhubaneshwar's snakes
Bhubaneshwar (ANI): Believe it or not, a team of students and scholars in Bhubaneshwar have launched a helpline for snakes. Whether its protection from or for snakes, the Snake Helpline is just a phone call away.
Earlier, people of the area used to kill snakes, but now when they spot a snake in their house, they call up Snake Helpline to have the reptile removed from their premises without causing it harm.
" This morning we felt there was something under the staircase and when we saw carefully we discovered it was a snake. We had information that in Bhubaneshwar there is a man called Pratyush Mahapatra who is working for protection from snakes. I got his number and called him up. A team came and took 10 to 15 minutes to take the snake out and later they took it away," said Umesh Ch. Mishra, a local resident.
The helpline "Sarpa Suraksha Abhiyan" ( Protect Snakes Mission ), is a five-member, non government snake protection outfit, the first of its kind in the country.
Its member Pratyush Mahapatra had always been interested in snakes, always very curious of the specie. In his school days and college days Scorpions were his obsession. Later Snakes replaced Scorpions and Pratyush's research topic was a bio geography of the snakes of Orissa.
"While collecting data for our project we thought of this noble idea that whenever there are snakes in houses or whenever people see the snakes they tend to kill it, so if we give our contact numbers to people they can contact us and we can rescue the snakes and let the fear go out from heart of people, says Pratyush Mahapatra, one the helpline's member.
The outfit started in 2001 with members who do not fear snakes. They know the trick to remain alert and rescue snakes and they love the animal.
"To catch a snake three things are must fist affection towards the animal.You should love the animal and not fear him. Secondly, apply the trick and alertness of mongoose when it catches a snake. We never give a chance to the snake to bite us rather we catch it safely and we have first aid box with us, we catch snake from its neck same as mongoose does," added Pratyush Mahapatra.
The outfit has a common motto, Let us live and Let the Snakes live.
After getting permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden of the Department of Forest Government of Orissa, the helpline started and ever since they continue with their efforts to catch snakes and release them in their natural habitat.
On an average, the outfit gets about 80 calls per month and the team works individually in Bhubaneshwar in an area of 30 km radius. They carry snake catching sticks, first aid box and a boy who puts the snake in the bag when it is caught.
These team members are researchers at Utthal University Zoology Department. In the university area there is a large density of snakes. Earlier the students particularly the males used to kill the snakes, therefore they decided to start their campaign from the university itself.
Pratyush said that most of the students do not understand snake behaviour and they do not know that out of the 54 species of snakes found in Orissa, only 7 are venomous. Again out of these seven venomous species only 5 are found near human habitation.
Along with catching snakes the outfit also gives tips and advises people and increases awareness among people regarding snakes. They advise the people to rush a snake bite victim to the hospital as soon as a snake bites, rather than taking that person to a priest. According to them Snakes do not need to be killed at all, and men need not die of Snake bites.
Hundreds of snake bites deaths can be checked with such a network all over Orissa. They are still to receive any financial help from any quarter.
Rescuing snakes from men and men from snakes in a world, where more than 500 men and women die of snake bites and more than a few thousand snakes are killed every year just because sankes, is a very difficult task, which these team members seem to be fullfilling. The biggest disadvantage that Snakes sufer is that they are the most misunderstood species on planet Earth.
Now, a helpline for Bhubaneshwar's snakes