Bengaluru’s snake rescuers are a busy lot this season. Interes-tingly, their calls for help are coming in even from urban areas of the city, such as MG Road, Race Course Road and the Vidhana Soudha. “It is evident that rapid urbanisation has encroached into the habitats of these reptiles. And during the monsoons, they have no other option but to seek shelter in drier areas — which these days are independent homes, garages, apartments, rainwater drains, playgrounds, construction sites and even shops and showrooms,” say city’s herpetologists.Snake rescuer S Devaraj tells us, “I have rescued close to 150 snakes in August alone. Apart from areas such as Whitefield, Nelagadaranahalli, Abbigere, and Chikkabanavara, calls have come in from busy areas in central Bengaluru, Yelahanka and Hebbal. Earlier, snakes were spotted around farmhouses on the outskirts of the city. These days, it seems like nobody is spared. Unfortunately, it is the snakes that have nowhere to go.”Herpetologist Sanjeev Pednekar, who says he has rescued 130 snakes from various parts of the city, has been incubating rescued rattlesnakes. “Bengaluru makes for a perfect breeding ground for snakes. But what is working is that there has been a decrease in species. We have rattlesnakes hatching this season. Earlier, there were at least 24 species of snakes in Bengaluru. We used to catch around 300-500 snakes each year. Of late, we have noticed that we have caught nearly 800 snakes from within the BBMP limits, most of which belong to four venomous species — like the Spectacled Cobra, Russell’s Viper, Saw Scaled viper and the Common Krait.Out of those many species, only these four varieties have become common. There has been a decline in non-venomous varieties of snakes. This means that the population of snakes has increased, but the species have reduced. At the same time, the city has seen an increase in the number of cases of snake bites.”The snake bite statement shared by the state health department reported 4,399 snakebite cases across the state, including 13 deaths, in 2019. What is surprising is that the official reports do not point to Bengaluru city, in spite of the increase in number of cases reported in news lately.Dr Sandeep Venkatesh, an intensivist at the emergency department at a hospital in Hebbal, confirms, “We have received as many as three to four cases of snake bites this rainy season.”“WHO has categorised snake bite envenomation into category A of the most neglected tropical diseases. Sadly, it continues to remain an underestimated cause of accidental death in India. Reports are contained to number of reported deaths caused from snake bites. There are so many who don’t even make it to the hospital. Moreover, most hospitals here are not equipped to deal with snake bites, there do not have anti-venom treatments. Those who cannot handle the case end up referring victims to other hospitals,” points out Sanjeev, who claims to have witnessed two deaths caused due to snake bites this year in Bengaluru.Badly planned architecture, faulty drainage system and garbage planning are the main causes of this increaseExperts blame the sudden increase in the number of snake sightings and bites in the city to the way we have planned, or rather not planned the city’s infrastructure.The main reason behind it is the fact, unplanned sewage systems, bad rainwater drainage systems. “The haphazard gutter and garbage segregation and collection has caused the increase in rats and rodent population, which is the perfect food prey for venomous snakes and hence the increase in the number of snakes,” explains Sanjeev, who adds that once you deny entry, food and shelter to snakes the menace can be tackled.Out of these, the Bengaluru division (comprising of Bengaluru City, Bengaluru Urban and rural, Chitradurga, Davengere, Kolar, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Ramanagar and Chikkaballapur) reported 1,455 snake bite cases and five deaths.