CHENNAI: Coming as a huge relief to hundreds of Irulas, the Tamil Nadu government has eased norms for catching venomous snakes and extraction of venom. The last couple of years have been nightmarish for Irulas, who suffered a loss of livelihood with the forest department delaying permission to catch their full quota of snakes till the end of March.
On an average, members of the Irulas Snake Catchers’ Industrial Cooperative Society, which is the only authorised supplier of snake venom in India, are allowed to catch 5,000 snakes annually. In August, the forest department grants permission to catch the annual quota, and the society has to wait for a government order vetted by the finance department to catch the remaining half. In 2020-21 and 2021-22, the order was issued in the third or fourth week of March, just a week before the financial year ended.
For instance, the order for the last financial year was issued on March 28. Out of 2,500 snakes, the Irulas could catch only 356. Currently, the society has 350 active members who catch four species of snakes. They are paid Rs 2,300 for catching spectacled cobra, Rs 850 for common krait, Rs 2,300 for Russell’s viper, and Rs 300 for saw-scaled viper.
To address this, the State government has decided to issue the order for the current fiscal year now. Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Department, told TNIE: “We have done away with the process of waiting for the finance department’s approval for issuing a government order. We will also not grant permission in two parts. For this fiscal year, we will issue an order permitting catching of 5,000 snakes by this month’s end. This will enable the society to give work to Irulas throughout the year.”
To a query, she said the government will initiate a study to assess the number of snakes available and consider giving permission to catch more snakes. The Madras High Court, in an order pronounced in 1994, allowed capturing of snakes annually for extracting venom, but for the past few years, the forest department hasn’t let Irulas catch more than 5,000 snakes.
This approach, a society official said, was leading to a venom shortage. Currently, the society only has stock of venom of spectacled cobra and Russell’s viper. But companies making anti-venom need the venom of common krait and saw-scaled viper too.
The official said there is a huge gap between demand and supply. If the gap is not bridged and Irulas are not allowed to catch more snakes, there is a risk of companies buying venom from unauthorised parties.A recent study documenting snakebite envenoming in India indicates that snakebite envenoming has resulted in 1.2 million deaths between 2000 and 2019 i.e. an average of 58,000 deaths per year. About 70% of these snakebites occurred in nine states — Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.