Bhopal, July 24 || Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has once again stirred debate in wildlife circles by demanding a formal census of snakes across the state, citing a surge in snakebite-related deaths and the absence of any national protocol to track the reptile populations.
Speaking at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Forest Development Corporation at the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) in Bhopal, Yadav said, "I often raise difficult questions, and recently it struck me that we lack any formal process to count snakes among reptiles. This isn't just a local issue; it's a gap seen across the entire country. When I brought it up nationally, your Forest Minister acknowledged the validity of the concern and assured that it would be examined. With Nag Panchami approaching, I've laid out fresh challenges. Snakebite incidents remain the leading cause of unnatural deaths in our state."
"It's time we treat this as a serious public health challenge - by ramping up awareness and implementing every possible preventive measure. If deaths due to snakebite are among the highest in the state, why don't we treat it as a challenge and act?" he said, urging forest officials to take proactive steps ahead of Nagpanchami.
Once he had asked a similar question, why only tigers are counted in wildlife surveys while snakes- "equally vital to ecological balance and human safety" - remain overlooked.