Mumbai: NGOs rescue two venomous snakes from Juhu and Borivli

Snake rescued in Mumbai: Photos/Shirish Vaktania

Two snakes were rescued and released in the forest area on Friday morning by Mumbai-based Amma Care Foundation (ACF) and Plant & Animals Welfare Society - Mumbai (PAWS). A three-feet long venomous Russel's viper was found entangled in a nylon fishnet near Juhu area and a two-feet long Spectacled Cobra was rescued after it fell in a water drum in Saibaba Nagar, Borivli (West).

The ACF team, on Friday morning, received a distress call from a local resident Akshay Kumar Mangela, who spotted the snake in a fishnet at Moregoan. Following the call, ACF volunteer Sushmita Dighe rushed to the spot.

"On reaching the spot, my team realised that it would not be easy to rescue the snake. Sushmita had to call another volunteer for help. It took almost 25-30 minutes to rescue the Russell's Viper snake from the fishing net. It was later taken to veterinarian Dr. Manish Pingle as the net was stuck on the jaw area," said ACF founder Sunish Subramanian.

"The net circled around the snake's neck and it was clearly in pain and stress. The snake was relieved from net threads very gently under mild sedation using very fine instruments to avoid injuries. After giving stress-relieving treatment, it was found fit to be released in the forest. Dr. Pingle said that because of our team's prompt response, no major wounds were noticed after removal of nylon threads and entangled net," Subramanian further said.

In another incident, a two-feet long Spectacled Cobra was rescued from a water drum at Saibaba Nagar, Borivli (West). "After receiving another call from a local resident Ganesh Chaudhary, our volunteers Akash Panadaya and Sunil Gupta rushed to the spot and found a Spectacled Cobra in a water drum. Our volunteers rescued the snake," Subramanian said.

After the fitness examinations, both the rescued snakes were released in the forest area with the forest department's permission.

Also read: Mumbai: Over 20 sea snakes rescued from Alibaug beach