Maharashtra: Snakes infestation strikes fear among medical staff at Agashi PHC in Virar

The discovery of two nonpoisonous snakes inside a toilet at the Primary Healthcare Centre PHC in Agashi Virar West in Maharashtra shocked medical staffers who had gathered for a meeting on Thursday afternoonA paniclike situation erupted after a nurse heard a constant hissing sound originating from near a toilet The next day they again saw a snake slithering on the hospital premises leaving the medical staff in a state of terrorNearly 40 medical staff members who had gathered for a monthly meeting at the PHC dispersed and the meeting was delayed by nearly two hoursOn Friday a medical staff member spotted a large snake slithering inside a pipe on the PHC premises but it could not be caught by a snake rescuerThe medical staffers including doctors nurses and health assistants at the PHC have been living in constant fear of snake bites as the premises have not been kept clean by the Gram PanchayatldquoAbout 40 medical staffers had gathered for a meeting at the PHC on Thursday when a nurse heard a constant hissing sound while using the toilet She got scared as the hissing sound continued to terrify her inside the toilet She rushed out and informed usrdquo a medical staff member told middayldquoWe have been dealing with snake bite cases almost every day in Agashi It is really scary to work in this atmosphere as we conduct family planning operations and deliveries at this PHC If snakes continue to come due to filthy grounds we cant perform surgeries We request the concerned department to provide us with a proper working atmosphere to treat the patientsrdquo said a doctorldquoAll the medical staff got scared after hearing the news We had to delay the meeting called to plan for our monthly workrdquo a nurse saidThe panicstricken medical staffers had to call a private snake catcher Swarandeep Wankhede and his team from AgashildquoAfter more than an hour of struggle two nonpoisonous dhaman snakes were rescued They were hiding on the parapet of the toiletrdquo said a medical staff memberThe snake catcher Wankhede said ldquoWe rescued two snakes on Thursday from the PHC We catch the snake and release it in a forested area Earlier we used to give them to the Fire and Forest Departments of the municipal corporation but now they have stopped taking the snakes from us So we catch the snakes and release them in the forest areardquoldquoEvery week our team catches nearly 10 snakes in Virar We voluntarily help people by catching snakes found in their residential or office premises We donrsquot charge anything from peoplerdquo said the 27yearold Wankhede who learned snake catching tricks from a rescuerAnother medical staff member told midday that the area needs to be regularly cleaned by the Gram Panchayat but the premises are lying in an absolute messy condition and grass has grown in the fieldldquoThere was a meeting of Zila Parishad officials with medical staff at the PHC In the meeting the Sarpanch has been told that all the medical staff members are living in constant fear of snake bites because every day we have been noticing snakes in the premises We cant work like this if snake hissing sounds continue to terrorize our staffrdquo said a medical staff memberWhen contacted the Sarpanch of Agashi Vijay Patil said ldquoThe area of this PHC is really huge and there is a khaki on the back side Also the old quarters have been demolished and debris needs to be cleaned Just because of the monsoon grass in the premises has grown long and needs to be trimmedrdquoldquoI have also requested the municipal corporation to assist us in cleaning the premises Hopefully from Monday or Tuesday the grass trimming procedure will start at the PHC A few pipes kept on the PHC premises are meant for supplying water and the project is underwayrdquo Patil addedMeanwhile another snake created panic at a Vada Pav shop in Vasai A local snake rescuer was called and rescued the snake from the shop ldquoIt was a dhaman snake hidden inside the shop It took us three hours to rescue the snake and my business was hamperedrdquo said Anil Gupta the shop owner