Coimbatore

These snakes were caught by a team of 11 expert snake catchers from the Irula community hired by the management of JSW Steel Plant Private Ltd near Mettur. The tribal snake catchers were the members of Irula Snake Catchers Industrial Co-Operative Society in Kancheepuram district. “They commenced the operation on November 20 and completed the task after six days on Thursday. All the caught snakes were released into the reserve forest area in Bargur in Erode district, where their survival is expected to be good. The snakes were released almost 15 kilometers into the forest cover,” said Mettur Forest Ranger Prakash Raj. Last year too, the Irulas caught around 52 snakes from the factory premises, spread over in an area of over 800 acres. It has thick vegetative growth conducive for snakes.