Snake scare at Ambedkar varsity hostels in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: A scared student hurriedly scribbled a warning note to be pasted on the walls, while his furious fellow inmate posted photographs on social media sites, venting spleen over the snakes popping out in odd places on the hostel campus of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU).


While a python was spotted near the Ashoka hostel of the varsity on Tuesday morning, snakes entered the rooms and even the washrooms of the Kanishka hostel late in the night. The panicked hostellers took to social media on Wednesday, alleging that the university was not taking student's safety seriously and ignoring the complaints of the menace.

Two snakes were found in the pots of the Kanishka boys' hostel washrooms in room numbers nine and eleven. Panic gripped the hostel, with students pasting warning notes and posters on the washroom and room walls to alert other inmates.

"When I went to use the washroom late in the night I noticed some movement in the pot. Initially I thought it must be a frog, but when I looked closer, I was extremely scared as a snake was slithering out," said Rishi Shukla, a BA-LLB student. "In panic, I pulled the flush and ran to alert the hostellers, but I found similar complaints from others as well," he said.

Another student, Alok Singh said it was an "extremely scary and creepy situation" in hostels with the snakes moving around.

"I stepped out of the room at 6.30, but locked myself back as two snakes were sitting near the door," Alok said.

Hostellers said that they have been lodging complaints since last one week, but the university administration was not taking the matter seriously. "After rain, the campus has become extremely scary with serpents moving around at various places," said Satyam Bharti, another student.

Meanwhile, university administration directed the engineering section to find a solution. "After the students gave a written complaint, the engineering section has been directed to inspect all hostels and make arrangements to stop the reptiles from entering hostel rooms," said BBAU spokesperson Rachna Gangwar.