During the monsoon, it is not just water that enters homes in Chennai. Often, snakes and scorpions crawl in, especially in the suburbs.
On an average, the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) receives five calls every day, seeking help with snakes in various localities. Once the rains start lashing the city, the number of calls increase and firefighters don the role of snake-catchers. The snakes are then let off into a suitable habitat or handed over to the forest department.
“Most of the reptiles are venomous cobras,” claimed a firefighter. Complaints about snakes are usually received from Avadi, Koyambedu, J.J. Nagar and sometimes, from places such as Adyar. “The snakes also get carried amidst debris and sand from construction sites in the suburbs and also through waterways like the Cooum,” he added.
The firefighters have undergone training at the Snake Park to distinguish between various kinds of snakes. “We learn how to differentiate between a venomous and non-venomous snake. We also get information about snakes’ habitats and how important they are to the ecology. This is to ensure we don’t kill them,” another officer added.
However, the firefighters do not have the proper equipment to catch snakes. “Personnel in fire stations such as J.J. Nagar and Avadi have made their own snake-catching equipment, using accelerator wire and a metal rod, with the help of a blacksmith. Some of them catch the reptile with their bare hands,” he said.
S. Venkatraman, a resident of Sivasakthi Nagar in Annanur, recalled spotting a snake in his locality during the monsoon a couple of years ago. “It was a big snake and I was frightened it may harm the kids. So I called the fire service and they took it away,” he recalled.
