Snakebites: Parents of students stage protest seeking location change for Peddapur Gurukul

Parents of students studying in the Peddapur Gurukul have taken to the streets after frequent snakebites in the school, with several of them squatting on the Nizamabad-Jagtial national highway near Maruthinagar demanding that the school be shifted from the current premises and also action against officials whose negligence resulted in the mishaps, which saw two children being hospitalised after being bitten by snakes within the last 24 hours.

Jagtial: Parents of students studying in the Peddapur Gurukul have taken to the streets after frequent snakebites in the school, with several of them squatting on the Nizamabad-Jagtial national highway near Maruthinagar demanding that the school be shifted from the current premises and also action against officials whose negligence resulted in the mishaps, which saw two children being hospitalised after being bitten by snakes within the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, officials have said that the students were bitten by ‘poisonous insects’ and refused to confirm the snakebite angle.

Two Class 8 students, Omkar Akhil and Yashvanth, were hospitalised on Wednesday and Thursday. While Akhil fell sick on Wednesday morning, Yashvanth was hospitalised on Thursday. Both of them are undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Korutla. Following the incidents, parents gathered at the Gurukul in large numbers and grilled the officials over the frequent incidents. Later, they headed to the Nizamabad-Jagtial national highway, where they were staging a dharna near Maruthinagar even when reports last came in.

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The parents said though two students had died in the school a few months ago, one of them allegedly due to a snakebite, the school authorities had not changed their attitude and had not taken precautions for the safety of the students. Stating that similar incidents were frequently taking place in the school due to the negligence of the school staff, they demanded that the officials shift the school to another location.

Meanwhile, following the two consecutive snakebite incidents, District Collector B Satya Prasad suspended school principal Madhavilatha on charges of negligence and for not responding properly to Akhil’s incident. Based on enquiry reports submitted by the Metpalli RDO, the Collector issued orders placing the principal under suspension. Instead of immediately shifting the boy to the hospital by calling the 108 service ambulance, she had informed his parents asking them to take their child along with them, leading to late admission of the boy in hospital.

After Yashvanth was also hospitalised on Thursday, the Collector visited the Sri Sai New Life Hospital in Korutla where both the students were undergoing treatment. The Collector said the students had fallen ill as they were bitten by poisonous insects. The health condition of students was stable, he said.

He later visited the school and instructed the staff to remove the bushes in the area and also instructed school authorities to engage snake catchers. Following this, school authorities roped in a snake charmer. However, he could not catch any snake till evening.