Tempo driver had a narrow escape near Mulund Check Naka, not in an accident, but from a poisonous snake, Echis also commonly known as a Saw Scaled Viper, that was in the dashboard for past few days
The rescuer said the snake had been in the tempo for few days as it had shed its skin in it. Rizwan Ansari, the tempo driver. Pics/Rajesh Gupta
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A tempo driver had a narrow escape recently, not in an accident, but from a poisonous snake, Echis also commonly known as a Saw Scaled Viper, that was in the dashboard for past few days.
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Rizwan Ansari
Rizwan Ansari, a resident of Bhiwandi, drives his tempo from godowns in Bhiwandi to malls in the city to supply electronic items. On Wednesday night after clearing the Mulund Check Naka, while going towards the city, Ansari continuously heard an unusual noise from the dashboard.
“When I checked, I saw a snake near the steering wheel,” said Ansari, who immediately fled the tempo and informed the cops, who gave him the Forest Department’s number. Through them he reached an NGO that helps rescue snakes.
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Pratik Bhanushali, a snake catcher who works for Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare, rescued the snake. “The snake had been in Ansari’s vehicle since the past four to five days for sure, as it has shed its skin in the vehicle, which we found," said Bhanushali.
Ansari was lucky that the snake did not come out of the dashboard when he was driving the vehicle. “Though its a common snake found in the country, it’s very poisonous,” said Bhanushali.
Ansari says that he is lucky to have escaped. “I made several trips in the past four days but I am lucky that it started hissing and I saw it only when my vehicle halted. Though I felt some movement in my dashboard, it was not very strong and I did not suspect I would find some creature in it.”
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