Forest officials visit home of boy who flagged helpline failure in letter to Karnataka CM
Udupi: Forest officials visited the home of Class 10 student Deepesh Deepak Shenoy in Udupi after he wrote to the chief minister highlighting the failure of the department's wildlife helpline during a recent incident.
It is learnt that Kundapur sub-division ACF Prakash Poojary, range forest officer (RFO) Varijakshi, deputy RFO Shivanand, and beat officer Devraj Pana visited the boy's residence to take stock of the situation on Thursday. ACF Prakash Poojary told TOI, "This incident occurred due to a communication gap. We do not ignore such calls. In this case, the staff the boy tried to contact were in interior areas with poor connectivity.
The range officer even tried to return the call as soon as he got the message," he said.
Deepak Shenoy, the boy's father, said that in addition to forest department officials, personnel from the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) also reached out to verify the incident. "We told them that my son only wanted to confirm whether the snake was venomous so he could act accordingly," he said. "He wrote to the CM, forest minister, and DFO to ensure the helpline works when it's needed most," Deepak added.
The incident, reported by TOI on June 12 under the headline 'Student rescues snake, flags forest department helpline failure in letter to CM', took place on June 8 at the family's home in Kukkikatte, Udupi. Deepesh, a student of TA Pai English Medium School, Kunjibettu, responded calmly when a snake slithered into their home. With guidance from his father, he immediately called the wildlife helpline (1926) and was redirected to the local range office.
Despite repeated calls, sharing photos of the snake, and informing officials about the presence of senior citizens at home, no assistance arrived, he alleged.
With no response by late afternoon, Deepesh sought help from a local wildlife expert, who identified the reptile as a Buff Striped Keelback—a non-venomous species. He then safely released the snake back into the wild.
Following the incident being reported, Deepak said they received supportive calls from various well-wishers and organisations recommending Deepesh for the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar and Shaurya Award for his presence of mind and responsible action, Deepak said.
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