Kalawati Hande (75) of Narodi village in Ambegaon taluka, 80 km from Pune, almost died of a cobra bite on August 25 — Nag Panchami day. She was taken to Vighnahar nursing home at Narayangaon. Within 20 minutes of the bite, she was given primary aid, ayurvedic tablet pinak and anti-snake venom before being kept on respiratory support. She recovered within 24 hours.

“We have treated 89 patients bitten either by cobras, Russell’s vipers or the common kraits, including Kalawati who found it difficult to breathe after the bite. Pinak tablet was immediately placed under her tongue at the hospital and she was treated with ASVs. Recovery normally takes over five days. But she was fine after 24 hours,” said Dr Sadanand Raut whose hospital at Narayangaon has an intensive care unit. “Four other patients were given the same drug along with the routine treatment.”

The latest victim is Omkar Vani from Narodi who was bitten by a cobra on last Saturday. Higher and Technical Education minister Dilip Walse Patil had sent nine-year-old Omkar to Raut’s hospital, the doctors said. “The cost of one ASV is Rs 400, while injections are administered depending on the severity of the bite. A patient can receive at least 20 ASVs and it is a long road to recovery,” says Raut.

Of the 2,000 villagers in Narodi, 134 people have been bitten. Sixteen of them died in just one year. One will even find the profile of the village on www.youtube.com, with researchers claiming a cure with pinak supported by anti-snake venom injections. While primary health centres have their stock of ASVs, a shortage of artificial respirators for treating serious cases has made the government consider setting up emergency measures. Dr Doke said a mobile ambulance would be deployed.

Snake-bite cases have led Vijay Pawar, a former sarpanch at Ambegaon, to take up the issue with the politicians. Pawar and MLA Vallabh Benke are helping herpetologist and Neelimkumar Khaire, director of Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park at Katraj, create awareness about snakes. Khaire, who has embarked on a project to train the villagers, said the compound walls of each house had cracks through which snakes entered while the drainage system was open.