Soon, smartphone users in Madhya Pradesh will be able to locate the nearest trained snake rescuer and call them — a process as easy as booking a cab.
Madhya Pradesh Forest Department is preparing to launch SHIVAA, a digital platform intended to connect citizens with trained snake rescuers and guide snakebite victims toward treatment.
The number of reported snakebite cases in Madhya Pradesh has also risen sharply. Under the proposed system, rescued snakes are to be released according to defined protocols, including release into appropriate protected or notified forest areas under Forest Department supervision. Hence, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department is preparing to launch SHIVAA, a digital platform intended to connect citizens with trained snake rescuers and guide snakebite victims toward treatment. Users will be given first-aid instructions, warnings against potentially dangerous practices and information about nearby hospitals and health facilities where anti-snake venom is available. The idea is to cut the delay between a bite and appropriate medical treatment, often the most crucial window in a snakebite emergency. That could allow the government to identify snake-conflict hotspots across Madhya Pradesh and plan awareness programmes, rescue resources and medical preparedness accordingly. The department also plans to train Home Guards, frontline Forest Department personnel and volunteers in safe snake rescue and release. SHIVAA’s proposed digital documentation of rescue and release is aimed at closing precisely that gap.
Across India, 431 snakebite deaths were reported on the platform in 2025, up from 370 in 2024 and 183 in 2023. The state reported 1,208 snakebite cases in 2022, 1,479 in 2023 and 3,334 in 2024, meaning reported cases in 2024 were nearly three times the 2022 figure, according to another set of IDSP-IHIP figures placed before Parliament.
