Kolkata: A Class I student at Mitra Institution in Bhowanipore was bitten by a venomous snake in the school compound during the tiffin break on Monday. Dipra Pal, 6, is being treated at SSKM’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, where doctors said his condition was stable.The school, housed in a building which CM Suvendu Adhikari said was in a poor condition, will remain shut on Tuesday. A forest department team scanned the campus but failed to trace the snake. The search will resume on Tuesday morning.This was the second reported instance of a child being bitten by a snake on a school campus in the city in a week. On Aug 18, a Class 3 student suffered a snakebite at her school off EM Bypass. The girl was taken to hospital and discharged the following day.Dipra was playing with his friends around 8.45 am when he got bitten by a snake on a ground-floor corridor. Though he did not see the snake, a medical test confirmed envenomation.His mother Dipti Das said doctors told her that her child was attacked by a Russell’s viper, one of the most dangerous snakes. A source at the hospital, however, said more tests had to be conducted to identify the species.“I was about to board a bus to fetch my son from school when I got a call saying he had been bitten by a snake. He was stable. Following blood tests, doctors said he was bitten by a Russell’s viper,” said Dipti, a resident of Tollygunge.CM Adhikari spoke to the boy’s mother over a video call, offering her support and urging the family to stay strong. On his instruction, a govt team visited the hospital in the evening to review the child’s condition.Adhikari, who represents Bhowanipore in the assembly, said, “I sent my OSD (officer on special duty) to the spot. I spoke to the student’s mother. Doctors have said the child’s condition is stable.”Soma Das, teacher-in-charge of the school, said two teachers rushed Dipra to SSKM Hospital immediately after the snakebite.The school authorities, however, remain clueless as to how the snake entered the premises.Headmaster Raja Dey said, “The boy was administered with anti-snake venom injections. His condition is stable.”Despite the assurances, the family was anxious. “Russell’s viper is extremely venomous. While the school acted promptly, it is vital to establish how the snake entered the campus,” said a relative.A source at IPGMER-SSKM said the child was responding well to treatment. “While he is stable, our team is monitoring him round-the-clock. There were clear fang marks on the boy and preliminary tests have confirmed envenomation”Parents of other students expressed concern over what happened to Dipra.“We recently heard about a similar incident at a private school. We never imagined such a thing could happen here,” the mother of a class 7 student said.“For the last three years, schools did not get composite grants. Soon after coming to office, we released Rs 294 crore in composite grant for maintenance and infrastructure development of schools,” the CM said.(With inputs from Sumati Yengkhom and Suman Chakraborti)
