Vijayawada: Poisonous snakes have become a major concern for farmers in Kharif season. The sight of a cobra, russell’s viper, saw-scaled viper and other venomous snakes has become quite prevalent in Avanigadda, Diviseema, Gannavaram and other delta regions in the district and the number of snake bite cases are worrying localities.With a row of snake bite incidents registered in last five days, farmers in Avanigadda region are getting scared of stepping inside agriculture fields. Around 53 cases of snake bites were registered in six mandals of Avanigadda constituency and district administration have confirmed that altogether 253 snake bite cases were registered in Avanigadda Area Hospital, which was alarming.“Attack of venomous snakes has become common in our region in the rainy season and it is getting tough to get agriculture labourers for sowing paddy. Snake menace increased in our regions after floods in 2009 and around eight farmers lost their lives due to poisonous snake bites,” said J Vinaya Krishna, a farmer from Nagayalanka.Residents of Diviseema rue that proper treatment is not available in primary health care centers. “Avanigadda Area Hspital is the only major hospital in this locality, and we are striving hard to shift snake bite patients there. Primary health care centers (PHC) are failing to provide proper treatment, and paramedical staff working in PHC’s are not trained in treating snakebite cases,” alleged Mekala Harnath Reddy, a resident of Koduru.Farmers of Kesarapalli village in Gannavaram mandal say that they are also facing problems with snake menace and requesting government to arrange proper snake catchers. IT employees working in MEDHA IT park in Kesarapalli are worried about the poisonous snakes.Residents of hilly terrains of Vijayawada are complaining that poisonous snakes are posing threat for them. The city with more than 16 lakh population doesn't have a proper mechanism to catch snakes.Superintendent of Avanigadda Area Hospital Dr Dorai said that snake bite cases registering in Avanigadda region are quite common and that they are providing best possible treatment to the patients. “We strongly condemn the allegations made by the locals as we are maintaining proper stocks of anti-snake venom (ASV) and other medications needed to treat snakebite cases. We have trained ground level staff and paramedics in treating emergency snake bite cases and locals are donating ASV stocks considering the increasing number of cases,” he said.

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