Jajpur, Oct. 18: Bhimasen Das, 43, a native of Gopabandhu Nagar in Kanyan panchayat of Dasarathpur block here, hardly sleeps at night these days, because snakes have become abundant in the flood-hit areas.

The poisonous reptiles are frequently sneaking into houses triggering fear for Das and his family members to sleep in his flood-ravaged house.

“I have been awake for the past five nights to guard against snakes as my aged parents, wife and two children are scared to sleep in the house. Several poisonous snakes are found slithering around and they are sneaking into houses in this locality,” said Das.

Similar is the case with hundreds of villagers, who are spending sleepless nights for days together fearing snakebite.

“The villagers had killed at least 12 snakes in the past five days. The reptiles sneaking into houses have raised fear among the villagers,” said Radhakanta Das of the village.

“Moreover, at night when the visibility is poor, it becomes more dangerous for us to move out,” he said.

Snakes have scared not only the villagers of Gopabandhu Nagar, but also the residents of Laxmi Nagar, Kainyan, Icchapur, Gundichipada, Gahirapal, Dubakan and Dharampur villages.

Snakes have been creating trouble for the past couple of days at all the flood-ravaged villages of Dasarathpur block, which has been affected the most by the floods in the district.

Many villages of the block are located beside the Baitarani and Kani rivers.

Besides, many places of at least 31 villages of the block still remain submerged under four to five feet floodwater. Around 40,000 people of those villages are awaiting evacuation.

As the human habitation in these areas is located on a high land, snakes are sneaking into those houses in the wake of the floods.

“The reptiles prefer warm place. They will not attack anyone, who come in their way unless they are provoked,” said environmentalist Anirudha Samantray.

Chief district medical officer Binayak Prusty said: “Eleven cases of snakebite have already been reported from the flood-affected areas of the district. However, thankfully, there is no casualty as of now.”

Anti-snake venom injections and other medicines have been made available at the district and block headquarters hospital.