A snake was spotted in the Curzon Ward of SSKM Hospital on Saturday evening, spreading panic among patients and staff.
The hospital staff killed the snake, which officials said might have come from a washroom locked for months in the first-floor male medicine section of the ward.
“I heard screams from near the washroom around 8pm and saw people running. Then someone told us that a snake had been spotted near the washroom,” said a man in his 50s, whose son is admitted to the Curzon Ward.
Some patients said they had heard the hospital staff saying the 2feet-long snake was Chandrabora but officials denied the claim.
“Chandrabora is a poisonous snake. Its bite can be fatal,” said Dipak Mitra, member of the state wildlife advisory board. “The snake needs a bush and a pond to survive. It prefers a highland which gets sunlight during both sunrise and sunset,” Mitra added.
The discovery of the snake in the hospital had rattled the patients and their relatives, who blamed the safety lapse on the alleged failure of the authorities to keep the campus clean.
“Garbage dumped here and there is helping animals, snakes and insects thrive. The washrooms and floors are not cleaned properly. Flies and other insects swarm even in the wards,” said an Arambagh resident admitted to the hospital.
Hospital superintendent Tamal Kanti Ghosh said the snake might have been hiding in the washroom that had not been opened for months. “Renovation is going on in the Curzon Ward. The snake might have come from the washroom that was opened yesterday evening after a long time.”
A senior hospital official said: “We will speak to PWD officials and ask them to clear the rooms.” There have been instances of animals biting patients at SSKM. In October 2009, a patient admitted to the orthopaedic ward had been bitten by a rat.
Suicide: A 35-year-old elevator mechanic jumped to his death from the eighth-floor balcony of Ballygunge Science College on Sunday. The body of Gopal Dey, a resident of Howrah, was found in the basement, said police. Dey was hired to repair the building’s elevator.
