Hyderabad: Snakes have caused panic at the Gandhi Hospital nursing college. Ten have been sighted during the past two months, three by the principal, Dr Salver Sujatha, during lunch.
“At first I thought it was my imagination so I took a closer look and saw a snake going into a drain manhole,” she said. “By the time security arrived, it had slipped away.”
The college and hostel, where 160 of the 200 students stay, are near the Gandhinagar police station in Bansilapet, behind the Secunde-rabad railway track.
Rain has led to tall grass, plus it is a dump and dotted with manholes.
Snake catchers have visited thrice but to no avail, as the snakes have proved smarter. On Monday the grass was removed and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials used a suction machine on the manholes, but no luck. Students have started walking in groups. Staff are worried about stepping on snakes and getting bitten. “Students want measures taken,” nursing association convenor Laxman Rudavat said.
