MUMBAI: Bandra-Kurla Complex, one of the prime business hubs in the city, is known for grappling with human-versus-wildlife conflict. The 41 pythons rescued from the vicinity in June only hint at a rampancy in recent years.
The phones of wildlife experts – working independently as well as in NGOs such as the Wildlife Animal Protect and Rescue Association (WARA) – and forest officers around Bandra have been buzzing with distressed calls for python rescues in June. “While some calls come from corporate offices, others are from pedestrians, gardeners, and construction workers,” said Atul Kamble, a snake catcher.
According to records maintained by wildlife rescuers, the first rescue was made on June 4. “Recently, we rescued a python that fell from an air conditioning duct inside a conference room of a corporate office,” said Kamble, an independent snake catcher. Incidents of python sightings have become so common in the area that the rescuers contacts are displayed on the pillars starting from the eastern express highway connector – starting at BKC – for immediate access. “Although this is very common, the number of rescues this year has been significant,” he added.
The largest number of snakes was found during one such rescue operation that began on the night of June 25 when Kaushik Keni, a wildlife rescuer with WARA, received a distress call at 11pm from a labourer at one of the construction sites near the metropolitan buildings next to the Mithi River.
“When we reached the spot, we found a baby python that was run over by a car. It was still alive and required medical treatment. A few meters away from it, there were two more of them around a police van. Thinking we could find more in that place, we began looking for them,” said Keni, whose team found seven more around the area that day.
“It appears as if they had just hatched out in a sewer and came on the road seeking warmth from the asphalt,” Keni explained. The veterinarians from the NGOs examined the 10 pythons, jotted a medical report and immediately rehabilitated them back into the wild.
Keni said pythons, who have thrived in the mangrove areas, are the primary residents of the BKC. However, the recent underground metro construction and other constructions in the region have endangered their habitat.
Back when Dharavi was considered the outskirts of Bombay city, rescuers who caught snakes, most of them being pythons, would rehabilitate them just behind it near the Bandra-Sion link road in what is now known as Maharashtra Nature Park. Further beyond the park flows the Mithi River and mangroves, which are the habitat for these snakes. “Pythons have the tendency to go beyond their habitat to expand their colonies, but they end up on the busy streets of Bandra,” said Kamble.
“Another reason why they come out of their natural habitat is the ongoing work for the metro (Line 2B). The construction noise and the vibration are unbearable to them,” said a forest official who rescued about 15 of the 45 pythons from BKC in June.
Pythons are non-venomous snakes that take refuge in the drainage lines during monsoon, which is their hatching season, as it provides them with a favourable climate. They not only get easy access to fodder but also a suitable temperature.
Other snakes that were rescued in June from BKC include Cobra, Russell’s viper, and Buff striped keelback, among others.
The rescue experts urge people to reach out to officials, as careless mishandling can lead to a chaotic situation. “As per the guidelines, once the rescued snakes are deemed medically fit, we safely send them to their natural habitat in a far-off place where they cannot come back to a human settlement,” said the forest official.
