431 snakebite deaths in India last year: Government tells Parliament

Minister of state for environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said the Union government has advised states and Union territories to notify snakebite as a notifiable disease

There were 431 snakebite deaths in India last year, up from 370 in 2024 and 183 in 2023, the Union environment ministry has informed the Lok Sabha in a written response. Karnataka recorded the highest such deaths (157) in 2025 and 101 in 2024.

The government told Parliament that Karnataka recorded the highest such deaths (157) in 2025. (ANI)

Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state for environment, said the Union government has advised states and Union territories (UTs) to notify snakebite as a notifiable disease under the respective public health laws and other applicable legislation. He added that Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Odisha have so far declared snakebite cases and deaths as notifiable.

Singh said snakebite-related cases and deaths are reported under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme through the Integrated Health Information Portal.

He was responding to Congress lawmaker Prabha Mallikarjun’s questions on the number of states and UTs having declared snakebite cases and deaths as a notifiable disease under their public health laws, as per the advisory, and the number of such deaths during the last five years.

Mallikarjun asked whether the government has undertaken any assessment or study on the increasing incidence of human-snake conflict in forest fringe and rural areas and its linkage with habitat loss, climate variability, and ecological imbalance. She inquired about guidelines or programmes implemented under wildlife conservation frameworks, including the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to balance conservation of snake species with public safety.

Singh said the protection and management of wildlife is primarily the responsibility of the state governments and UT administrations. “In accordance with the provisions of Section 33 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, this ministry has issued guidelines for management planning of protected areas and other landscape elements,” Singh said.

Singh said an advisory was issued in February 2021 on dealing with human-wildlife conflict, recommending coordinated interdepartmental action, identification of conflict hotspots, adherence to Standard Operating Procedures, establishment of rapid response teams, and formation of state and district-level committees to review and expedite the disbursement of ex gratia relief.

He added that the National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming was developed in consultation with relevant ministries and stakeholders in line with the global target to halve deaths due to snakebite by 2030.