While traffic snarls are not new to India, a very unlikely visitor on the road in Karnataka's Udupi brought the movement of vehicles to a halt on Thursday evening. A video showing a cobra slowly crossing the road while cars and two-wheelers waited has gone viral on social media.
The halt lasted about half-an-hour at the busy Kalsanka Junction in Udupi as the cobra emerged, compelling the traffic police to stop the movement of vehicles, reported The Times of India. Even as the cobra slithered, people recorded videos and clicked pictures.
When the Cobra finished crossing the road, a man rescued it and took him for the treatment. Police said except for bringing the traffic to a grinding halt at peak hour, the snake didn't cause any damage or inconvenience.
The video of the incident shared by Mangalore City has been viewed over 39,000 times and retweeted by close to 200 people. "Movement of vehicles came to an abrupt halt for about 30 mins at the busy Kalsanka Junction in Udupi on Thursday when a cobra suddenly appeared on the road," it captioned the video.
Movement of vehicles came to an abrupt halt for about 30 mins at the busy Kalsanka Junction in Udupi on Thursday when a cobra suddenly appeared on the road. 🚦Traffic Police stopped the motorists, who waited patiently as the cobra moved slowly across the hot road surface. 🐍 pic.twitter.com/m5j1Y0zQiy— Mangalore City (@MangaloreCity) February 12, 2021
Many Twitter users lauded the traffic police for dealing with the situation responsibly.
"Poor creature. Hope (s)he moves to the safety of its natural habitat Traffic Cops Mangalore City doing a great job Hats off," wrote a user.
Poor creature😒. Hope (s)he moves to the safety of its natural habitat 🙏🙏.Traffic Cops Mangalore City doing a great job Hats off 👏👏— Gopinath Muktevi (@GopinathMuktev2) February 12, 2021
"Appreciate the cop, right thing to do when we share the planet," wrote another user.
Appreciate the cop👮🏽♂️. Right thing to do when we share the planet @newworlddd555— Ganesh R (@greatganesh) February 12, 2021
"Bravo Mangalore Traffic Police," said another person, lauding the efforts of the police.
"Poor fellow must have found it difficult to cross as the concrete surface was quite hot! A similar incident happened somewhere else in Udupi recently and the cobra had to be rescued!! Too many cobras in Udupi as the greenery is disappearing & they r losing their natural habitat," wrote one of the users.