Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is considering increasing the compensation in snakebite cases from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in accordance with a Supreme Court’s directive, Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari informed on Wednesday.
On November 17, the apex court directed all states to actively consider classifying human-wildlife conflict as a “natural disaster” and to ensure payment of Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for every human death caused in such incidents.
Pujari further informed that the Odisha government had earlier written to the Centre recommending an increase in the compensation, citing that the amount is insufficient. “The central government declares certain incidents like cyclone, floods as natural disasters. Deaths due to drowning, lightning strike, and snakebite, also come under the Union List, which means the central government is responsible for determining compensation for such incidents. Currently, the compensation for a snakebite death is fixed at Rs 4 lakh, but the Supreme Court has recommended increasing this amount to Rs 10 lakh, a change that, once approved, would apply uniformly across India,” he added.
He further mentioned that the Odisha government had earlier designated unseasonal rain as a state-specific disaster.
Odisha reported 1,150 snakebite deaths during 2023-24 and 709 in 2024-25, with the highest cases in Cuttack district (162), followed by Ganjam (155), Balasore (139), Keonjhar (132) and Sundargarh (102).
In January this year, the Supreme Court had also asked the Centre to take all states on board to make snakebite treatment available at all government medical facilities including primary and community health centres and district hospitals.
