Jamshedpur, June 24: After flash floods, now it is snakebite that is sending a chill down the spines of residents of Ashiana Gardens in Sonari.

After a retired forest officer Mohan Sharma was bitten by a snake in front of his cottage yesterday, the residents of the place are afraid that a similar incident might occur again.

Sharma was taken to Tata Main Hospital where he was kept under observation for 24 hours. He was released today in the morning but he is still recuperating from shock of snakebite.

“I was standing in the courtyard (where there was some water after the rain) when I felt some pain in my right leg. I saw a 4ft snake swimming away. After that I rushed into my house. The doctors told me the snake is not poisonous. I don’t know what would have happened if a poisonous snake had bitten me,” said Sharma.

An hour later a snake charmer, N.K. Singh, was called in to catch the snake but the reptile was no where to be seen. Two hours later another snake was spotted inside the sprawling premises. The snake charmer was called again and he caught the snake — a poisonous one this time.

“It was an ajgar snake and it is very poisonous. After the heavy rainfall a lot of poisonous snake can been seen on the premises of Ashiana Gardens,” Singh said.

He said the snakes were spotted at unusual places because the flood had devastated snake-holes.

“As the snakes are homeless now, they tend to become very ferocious,” he said.

After the snake charmer caught the venomous snake, fear has gripped the inhabitants of Ashiana Gardens. And the fear becomes intense when the residents have to step out in the evening or at night.

“It is natural that Ashiana Gardens would be a haven for snakes as it is situated near the river bank. But I was surprised to hear that a resident of this place was bitten by a snake yesterday. I have been living at this place for quite some time but nothing of this sort has happened in the past. Now I am afraid to step out of my house,” said Pappu Verma, who lives in the top floor of one of the apartment blocks.