GUNTUR: A snake, which entered the orthopaedic ward of the Government General Hospital (GGH) here in the early hours of Thursday created a flutter.
Immediately, after observing the snake slithering into the ward, the panic-stricken patients alerted the hospital staff.
Later, with the help of snake catchers, the hospital staff traced and killed the reptile. Though a massive sanitation drive was undertaken by the district administration for cleaning the hospital after the episode of an infant allegedly succumbing to the bite of rodents in the GGH in August 2015, the fresh incident of a snake finding its way into the GGH came as a shock to the hospital officials.
Contacted by Express, GGH superintendent Dr DS Raju Naidu said that the hospital staff responded immediately after learning about the incident and killed the snake.
“As part of the sanitation drive, we have removed all bushes and anthills and also removed the old structures on the premise of the GGH to put an end to the menace of rodents and snakes. Unfortunately as no similar drive has been taken up in the adjacent Andhra Christian (AC) College, we suspect that the snake might have found its way to the GGH,” Dr Raju Naidu said.
Orthopaedic ward is too close to the boundary wall of the college.
Recalling that they have succeeded in arresting free movements of rodents from the railway station, located opposite the GGH, he said taking up a special drive with the cooperation of Guntur Municipal Corporation staff, they restricted the rodents’ entry from the railway station.
“Similar sanitation drive has to be taken up in the college also,” he said and added that he would be writing to the district collector.