The ward office at Alwal witnessed an amusing, yet terrifying incident, when a person brought a live snake and dropped it on the table of an official. A short video of the incident went viral on social media, and evoked sympathy and laughter from netizens on Wednesday.
The person, Sampath Kumar, whose details are not available, reportedly complained several times to GHMC about the snake entering his home, but to no avail. Irked by the lack of response, he finally caught the snake, and released it in the ward office, much to the horror of the staff working there.
GHMC, though has a veterinary wing, is limited to catching stray dogs and monkeys when they cause trouble, and does not have the expertise to deal with reptiles. The Disaster Response Force under the Enforcement wing is involved only in rescue of pet animals, and not wildlife.
However, when any complaint about straying reptiles is received, it needs to be duly forwarded to the Forest department as snakes come under the definition of wildlife, which has not been done in this instance.
тАЬThe Nehru Zoological Park has a special team with expertise in snake catching. When we receive complaints about snakes, we usually forward them to the zoo or Forest department, who rescue them and leave them in the wild. But we have not received any complaint during this season,тАЭ informed a senior official from the Veterinary wing of GHMC.
Many calls for rescue are attended by Friends of Snakes Society (Ph: 8374233366) too, which is an NGO involved in rescue of snakes and spreading of awareness about them.
During incessant rains for the past one week, there have been several instances of snakes straying into houses looking for warmth, and of snakes getting washed into the residential areas along with flood water.