MID-DAY (Mumbai, India) 26 November 05 Arun Nalawade is the pied piper for snakes (Kiran Uchil)
Bhoir Nagar resident Arun Nalawade is a celebrity of sorts in his neighbourhood; especially after the July 26 floodwaters receded.
Because after the floods, it was raining snakes in Mulund and what better person to call to catch them then Arun Nalawade, the self-professed snake lover of the suburb.
“After the floods, many snakes came out of their holes. Since people knew that I am very comfortable with snakes and have studied them extensively, I started receiving calls to catch them whenever one was spotted in the neighbourhood.”
Nalawade has caught around 40 snakes in Mulund alone and released them into the forest after the July 26 rains. Explaining why Mulund has so many snakes, he says, “Mulund has been developed on marshy creek land. Besides the close proximity to Sanjay Gandhi National Park is reason enough to spot snakes here.”
This 38-year-old adventure sports lover is a storehouse of information on these highly misunderstood reptiles.
“Mulund has around 100 varieties of snakes in the poisonous and non-poisonous categories. We can find Rat snakes, Striped keelback, Checkered keelback among the non-poisonous variety and Cobra, Russell’s viper and Saw-scaled viper among the poisonous ones,” says Nalawade.
Nalawade has been running Disha Adventures - an adventure sports group - since 1994.
“When I used to go on nature trails, I used to encounter several snakes. That’s how I developed a keen interest in them and decided to study them,” he explains. The first snake Nalawade caught was a Krate way back in 1996 near Rajagiri Hills. “I have never been bitten by a poisonous snake,” he says with pride.
Nalawade says that misconceptions about snakes still abound, though people are a little more aware about them these days. After a gruesome incident where locals burnt a Rat snake without realizing that it was non-poisonous, Nalawade took up the task of sensitising people towards snakes through his adventure sports modules.
“During the various activities that people undertake, they are taught about snakes, their habitat and ways to find out if they are poisonous or non-poisonous,” he says.
Nalawade conducts the camps for school and college kids. He signs off with a word of caution, “A snake does not harm unless provoked. If you spot a snake inform the fire brigade or the police who will catch the snake and rescue it.”
If you spot a snake or want to go on adventure camps, contact Arun Nalawade on: 9322873366
Arun Nalawade is the pied piper for snakes