39 lives lost to snakesbites last year; Gurdaspur reported max 450 cases

Thirty-nine persons died due to snakebites last year in Punjab, which reported a total of 2,886 such incidents.

The state had witnessed 54 deaths in 2023 while the case count stood at 2,693 that year.

Moga reported maximum 12 deaths while Gurdaspur logged highest 450 cases in 2024.

Of the total 39 casualties reported in the state, 24 were from rural areas and 15 from urban centres.

In 2023, Patiala had topped the state with 23 of total 54 deaths while Gurdaspur had reported the highest 521 snakebite cases.

Rural areas had remained most prone with 41 deaths while 13 casualties were registered in urban areas that year.

To check the rising incidents of snakebites, the state government has launched a comprehensive plan to reduce their number by half till 2030.

Launching the National Programme for the Prevention of Snakebites and Envenoming (NPSE) at a state-level training workshop for health professionals in Chandigarh, National Health Mission Managing Director Ghanshyam Thori, assured full government support to the drive.

“Under this programme, Punjab aims to halve the number of snakebite deaths by 2030,” he said, urging the victims to approach the nearest government health facility as anti-snake venom was made available under the essential drug list and provided free of cost.

NPSE State Programme Officer Dr Preeti Thawre told The Tribune that the focus of the programme will be to prevent and control snakebite cases by providing timely treatment through anti-snake venom to the victims at all public health centres.

The district-wise break-up revealed that a maximum of 450 snake bite cases were reported in Gurdaspur followed by 361 cases and eight deaths in Jalandhar in 2024, 253 cases and one death in Patiala, 235 bites and three deaths in Ludhiana.

Of the total 24 deaths reported in rural areas, nine were from Moga, five from Jalandhar, two each in Faridkot and Hoshiarpur, and one each from Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Patiala and Tarn Taran. Among the 15 casualties reported from urban areas, three each were from Jalandhar and Moga, two each from Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Malerkotla, and one each in Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozepur and Kapurthala.