TTD left unarmed as lone snake catcher is bitten by snake

TTD’s lone snake catcher Bhaskar Naidu, who is recovering from a serious snake bite incident at Tirumala, has not only plunged the entire administration into a state of uncertainty, but also exposed scores of its employees and the visiting pilgrims to the risk of being bitten by snakes.

Sixty-eight-year-old Mr. Naidu was rushed to the Medical ICU of Amara Hospital in a critical condition on Friday evening after suffering a cobra bite on his left hand. The mishap occurred when he had successfully caught hold of the snake with his right hand and was pushing it into a bag with his left hand.

Under the instructions of hospital chairman Prasad Gourineni and coordination of medical director Ramadevi Gourineni, the team led by Emergency Medicine head Sivaramakrishna Reddy and P. Lokesh from medicine department administered anti-venom therapy and comprehensive supportive care under ventilator support.

When contacted by The Hindu, Critical Care consultants V. Shankar and H. Radhika, who were constantly monitoring his condition, confirmed that Mr. Naidu was showing signs of stabilisation. Mr. Bhaskar Naidu is recovering well and will be shifted to the ward today, they said.

This is not the first time that Mr. Naidu has suffered a snake bite while on duty. He was admitted to the same hospital, albeit in a more critical condition, in 2023 for a viper bite. He had reportedly not used the profession kit required for the task.

TTD caught off guard

At the macro level, the incident has caught the TTD authorities off guard, as it is unprepared for such a void, in the absence of a successor.

Mr. Naidu was once in the TTD’s services as a forest worker. His expertise in catching snakes entering into human habitations and leaving them back in the wild augured well for the TTD, which deployed him for such a specific purpose.

The management continued to use his services on contract basis even after his retirement to prevent and de-escalate friction between humans and snakes in the conflict-prone Tirumala- Tirupati region, nestled in the verdant Seshachalam hill ranges.

However, no sincere effort appears to have been made to create a trained workforce under his guidance in handling venomous creatures, which are aplenty in this region surrounded by forest on all sides.

After an untrained worker suffered a snake bite while trying to catch a snake that intruded into the official residence of the TTD’s Executive Officer sometime back, not many evinced interest in the task, which was not only risky, but also not apparently remunerative commensurate to the risk.

TTD sources are contemplating to rope in voluntary organisations that provide professional training in handling snakes to some of its employees.

“Mr. Bhaskar Naidu handles snakes by virtue of his experience, but we are planning to create a dedicated workforce by thorough training,” a senior official, requesting anonymity, said.

The present void, if left unattended to on a priority basis, is likely to pose a grave risk to the TTD employees, visiting pilgrims as well as the citizens of Tirupati.