Kerala man returns to check his flooded house, greeted by a crocodile

Since the waters began to recede in the past two days, Mustafa, a snake catcher in Malappuram, has caught over 100 snakes from homes.

Mustafa, a snake catcher, is a busy man in Kerala’s Malappuram. Since the flood waters began to recede in the past two days, he has caught over 100 snakes from homes.

A bicycle is hung from a tree branch to avoid being washed away in flood waters as a man rows with his boat at Kuttanad in Alappuzha, Kerala, on Monday. (AP photo)

The state is inundated by the century’s worst flood that has left more than 400 people dead this monsoon season, a million people homeless and caused unprecedented destruction to both private and public property.

People returning to their flood-battered homes in Kerala from relief camps were are being greeted by snakes and other reptiles and insects.

At Chalakudy in Thrissur district, a man who returned on Monday night to check the condition of his house was stunned to see a new occupant -- a crocodile.

Taken aback, he and his neighbours quickly caught the crocodile and bound it with ropes.

Thrissur is one of the most affected districts -- the others being Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Malappuram and Wayanad -- in the worst flooding in the state in nearly a century.

“It’s quite natural that when floods come, snakes come with it and so do other insects from overflowing ponds and rivers. People who return to clean up their homes should be careful and not put their hands into shoes, under cracked tiles or in wet firewood,” Mustafa said.

A hospital in Angamaly in Ernakuam district is treating 52 persons for snakebites.

Reports from Pathanamthitta said that several people who came to clean their homes fled after seeing the snakes.

The Kerala government has announced that adequate anti-venom drugs have been provided at all the affected places.