The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent notices to the Centre and Odisha government regarding the increase in snakebite deaths. They have asked for a response within six weeks. The NHRC also sent notices to the district collectors of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balangir, Khurda, Boudh, and Bhadrak. Civil rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy filed a petition which prompted these actions.
Tripathy mentioned that around 58,000 people die each year from snakebites in India. He explained that due to the negligence of authorities, three students died after being bitten by a venomous snake while they were sleeping in a coaching center in Keonjhar district on July 22.
Tripathy also highlighted that snakebite deaths make up more than 40% of the total disaster deaths in Odisha. In 2015, there were 522 snakebite deaths in Odisha, but this number increased to 1,159 in 2021. The shortage of anti-snake venom injections in government-run health facilities, including SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, is a major factor in this increase. Tripathy noted that on average, there are 58,000 snakebite deaths in the country each year, with 70% occurring in low-altitude areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
