Lakhimpur (Uttar Pradesh): Alarmed by the rising number of snake bites in the villages adjoining the Dudhwa National Park, the forest officials organized a workshop to sensitize people to deal with the situation.  57 people have already died of snake bites in the past eight months in the region.

The Forest Department in collaboration with Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) organized two workshops at Lakhimpur and Palia in the Northern Indian Uttar Pradesh state to coincide with “Nag Panchami”, the day when millions of devotees worship the snake god “Shiva” for their safety and well-being.

A total of 70 dry anti snake venom units, which do not need refrigeration, will be supplied to the forest department to take care of emergencies by WTI and a specialist from a leading Delhi hospital.

According to an official at least 100 people die annually in the region, but the figure could be much higher as many cases go unreported with people going to local tantriks (traditional faith healers) for treatment.

The workshops were attended by over 300 people from neighbouring villages, border security forces, forest staff, scouts and guides as well as local medical doctors.

Copies of a leaflet with helpful tips in Hindi language brought out by the forest department were distributed among the participants and the village heads for distribution at schools and in the villages.

“The problem has been so severe that it was considered the most common cause of death here. Even forest guards patrolling the park are at high risk,” said K. K. Singh, the Deputy Conservator of Forests.

“To add to the problem, local hospitals are not equipped to meet snake bite emergencies. Many hospitals don’t even have a single vial of snake anti-venom serum to treat victims,” said Jose Louis, Sr. Programme Officer of WTI.

“I must have killed hundreds of Dhaman (rat snakes) since my childhood out of fright. But now, I would check for the harmless ones,” said one of the participants Dr. Harsh Sharma who works at the District Epidemic Centre.

Poor knowledge of snake bites among local medical doctors also reduces the chances of survival, he said. Therefore, a special technical session was conducted for the doctors to acquaint them with the latest equipment and techniques by Dr. M. Asif Ali, head of the Emergency Department at Fortis Health Care in Delhi and a specialist in snake bites. A treatment manual written by him was distributed among the doctors.

A separate session to identify common snakes found in the area was also organized to help the villagers identify poisonous snakes.

“Very often villagers kill a snake as soon as it is sighted, for they think every one of them is venomous,” Louis, who helped villagers identify the harmless snakes through photographs, said.

Ironically, India which is the largest exporter of anti-venom, faces an acute shortage of anti-venom powder, leading to a large number of deaths across the country. The powder, which is more suitable to the tropical climate, does not need refrigeration, as opposed to the liquid, which does.

“At least 20 vials of anti-venom are needed to treat a single person. We don’t need expensive equipment and infrastructure, but just an adequate supply of the drug to save the person. I have handled many serious cases in rural areas where we had only the basic infrastructure but we never lost a single life,” Dr. Ali said. 

“Since snake bites are considered “non-treatable”, and have been a strong deterrent for our staff to go on patrolling duties during monsoons and the summer season. Now that the workshop has boosted their confidence, I hope this would change,” Singh said.