Maharashtra: Raigad sees more than 1,000 snake bite cases; 14 deaths in 17 months

At least 1,118 cases of snake bite were reported in Maharashtra’s Raigad district in the last 17 months and 14 persons have died in such incidents, an official from the civil hospital in Alibag said on Monday.

In light of rise in incidents of snake bite, the civil hospital has appealed to people to go for immediate medical intervention at the nearest hospital instead of consulting quacks or using traditional remedies, the official said.

A total of 1,118 cases of snake bite were reported in the district from January 1, 2022 to June 3 this year, and 14 persons have died in these incidents, he said. Most of the cases were reported in Alibag, Panvel, Khalapur, Mahad and Mangaon talukas, the official said. There are 14 locations in the district where treatment for snake bite is available.

Also read: Snakebites highest in India, anti-venoms largely ineffective

Maharashtra among top states

Incidentally, Maharashtra is one of the top states when it comes to number of snake bite cases in the country. In 2017, when the Union health ministry collated country-wide data on snake bite cases for the first time, Maharashtra topped the list with 24,437 cases from April 1 to October 31, 2017.

While West Bengal came a close second (23,666 cases), 10,735 cases were reported from Andhra Pradesh, 7,657 from Odisha, 7,619 from Karnataka, 6,976 from Uttar Pradesh, 4,567 from Tamil Nadu, and 4,079 from Telangana.

The data showed 94,874 cases were reported from rural areas. Maharashtra recorded 19,012 cases from rural areas and 5,425 cases from urban spaces. Nashik reported most incidents in the state (2,696), followed by Palghar (2,343), Thane (1,332) Raigad (1,216), Jalgaon (1,180) and Pune (1,081). Mumbai came last with 133 cases.

(With agency inputs)