Panic after cobra spotted in Noida housing colony

A cobra was spotted in Stellar Greens housing complex in Sector 44 on Monday, following which residents are refraining from visiting the society park.

A cobra was spotted in Stellar Greens housing complex in Sector 44 on Monday, following which the residents are refraining from visiting the society park.

The cobra was spotted on Monday, but has not been captured yet. (Picture for representative purpose only)

“I was on my balcony when I saw a cobra was coming towards the parking area from the park. It emerged from bushes near the boundary wall of the park. I alerted the security immediately. The residents, particularly children have stopped visiting the park for the last five days,” Naveen Jain, a resident, said.

Following residents’ complaints, a two-member team from the forest department visited the complex to catch the snake but failed to spot it. Residents have also stopped visiting the Shiva temple located in the park since the snake was spotted.

Raghuvir Singh Chauhan, the security manager of the complex, said that a four-foot long snake had ventured into the complex last week and was killed.

“It was easy to kill the yellow colour snake with sticks last week, but we have failed to catch or kill the cobra,” Chauhan said.

A majority of the residents, however, do not want the cobra killed. “We want the forest department or experts to rescue it and provide it a safe habitat. Snakes enter our society because the complex is surrounded by a village and vacant areas that are not cleaned properly,” said DD Mishra, RWA president.

“Spotting cobra and other reptiles is common in the rainy season. We will arrange for snake catchers. We advise residents not to kill it. Residents should be careful while stepping out of their homes,” NC Upadhyay, range officer, UP forest department, said.

“The realty boom has destroyed the natural habitat of Noida and Greater Noida, thereby snatching away snake’s habitat as well. Greater Noida has a 200-year-old snake catcher locality (Saperon ki Basti), which tells us that this area was a rich habitat for snakes. If we keep killing the ecology, it will affect the environment,” Akash Vashishtha, an environmentalist, said.