Shillong, July 7: A state-level consultation workshop, recently held in the city, focused on the growing human-snake conflict arising from floods, climate change, and habitat encroachment.
The workshop — held at Sylvan House on July 4 — also emphasised the urgent need for awareness programmes, training for high-risk groups and stakeholders, provision of snake-handling equipment at tourist spots, and public education on identifying venomous and non-venomous snakes.
The State Forest and Environment Department jointly organised the programme; Help Earth; and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust; with support from the University of Reading.
The discussion also highlighted the utility of the SARPA mobile app for reporting snake rescues and proposed the inclusion of snakebite deaths under disaster relief compensation.
A strong recommendation was made to ensure the availability of first aid at the community level for snakebite treatment.
Presentations on the topic were delivered by Gnaneswar Ch of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Dr Jayaditya Purkayastha of Help Earth, who emphasised scientific and community-driven strategies to mitigate conflict and foster human-snake coexistence.
A healthy cross-departmental discussion also took place during the meeting, strengthening inter-agency collaboration and paving the way for coordinated action.
