Waterlogging drives snakes into homes and kitchens in Rupganj, Narayanganj

Waterlogging from days of monsoon rain brought a surge of snakes into homes in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj in July 2026. Jagonews24 reported on 22 July that venomous and non-venomous snakes were being seen almost every day in houses, courtyards, crop fields and around homesteads. Snakes had got into bedrooms, kitchens and cowsheds, spreading fear.

Rupganj is an upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division, covering 176.48 square kilometres, with 704,869 people at the 2022 census. It has two municipalities, Kanchan and Tarabo, and seven unions, and the Shitalakshya and Balu rivers run through it.

The report said snakes stay away from people for most of the year, but when rain left fields and low-lying land under water, they moved into settlements looking for dry shelter. Bushes, abandoned plots, clogged drains and standing water added to the problem.

Residents told Jagonews that the waterlogged areas included Kanchan Hatabo Tekpara, Kaladi, Nalpathar, Narabo, Kushab, Barpa, Bhulta, Golakandail, and Tetlabo, Shantinagar and Jatramura in Tarabo municipality, as well as Rupshi, Islampur and many other places.

Many people in low-lying areas stopped going out after dark, and many families searched the whole house before bed. Residents complained that the problem grows acute every monsoon and that they see no effective step to solve it. The report carried no response from the authorities to that complaint.

Al Amin Sheikh of Tetlab Khalpar told Jagonews: “At night I saw two snakes trying to get into the house. When I shouted ‘snake, snake’, everyone nearby came running. We managed to kill one, about four cubits long, but the other got away.”

Asia Akter, a homemaker in Shantinagar, said: “I’m scared even to go to the toilet at night. A few days ago a snake was seen in the kitchen. Since then I haven’t let my children go anywhere alone.” She added: “We used to see a snake once or twice a year; now we hear of one almost every day.”

Selim Bhuiyan of Karnagop told Jagonews that on the afternoon of 17 July a snake got into his nephew’s house, and neighbours who came running at the shouts killed the snake, which was five and a half feet long. In his view, it was not only monsoon water: unplanned urbanisation, the filling of wetlands and the loss of natural habitat were also bringing snakes closer to homes, and the authorities concerned should act.

Rupganj Upazila Health Officer Dr Tansiv Zubayer told Jagonews that the risk of snakebite is higher in the monsoon, but for lack of awareness many people still turn to faith healers and superstition, which delays treatment and puts lives at risk. “If someone is bitten by a snake, keep the person calm and bring them quickly to the health complex,” he said. “The hospital has enough antivenom and specialist doctors. A snakebite patient can be saved if antivenom is given in time.”

The World Health Organization says high-quality antivenom is the most effective treatment for snakebite envenoming and that most deaths and serious consequences of snakebite are preventable. It estimates that 5.4 million people worldwide are bitten by snakes each year. In June 2023 The Business Standard, citing a 2021-22 national survey by the health directorate’s National Centre for Disease Control, reported that in Bangladesh about four lakh people are bitten every year and 7,511 die, and that 95% of snakebite incidents occur in rural areas.

First-aid guidance from MedlinePlus, the health information service of the US National Library of Medicine, in brief:

• Keep the person calm and get medical help at once; do not wait for symptoms.
• Remove rings and tight items, as the area may swell; use a loose splint to limit movement.
• Do not let the person over-exert themselves; carry them if necessary.
• Do not apply a tourniquet, cut into the bite, try to suck out the venom or apply ice.
• Do not give anything by mouth.
• Do not pick up or trap the snake; if safe, photograph it from a distance.

Rather than losing time with a faith healer, take a snakebite victim to the nearest upazila health complex or hospital and follow the doctor’s advice.

Photo: Thomas Jaehnel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, World Health Organization, The Business Standard, MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine), Wikipedia (Rupganj Upazila; Monocled cobra; Checkered keelback)