Three tribal schoolgirls die in Gadchiroli snakebite

Three girls aged 8 to 14 died and three were injured in a snakebite at a tribal residential school in Japtalai village, Dhanora taluka, Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra on the night of August 9-10, The Hindu reports. The common krait entered the dormitory where 112 girls slept on mattresses on the floor. One girl was airlifted to Nagpur and is recovering; another remains on ventilator support in Gadchiroli but is out of danger; a third is on the way to recovery.

The school, run by former Congress MP Marotrao Kowase, had no mosquito nets at the time, though they have since been fitted, the cook told The Hindu. The woman supervisor allegedly went on leave without approval and is absconding after an FIR for negligence. FIRs have been registered against five people. The state government said it will cancel the school's licence and audit all 513 private aided residential tribal schools in the state, Tribal Affairs Minister Ashok Uike said.

Residents and parents question the lack of medical infrastructure in one of Maharashtra's most remote districts. Gadchiroli has over 75% forest cover; 99 people have died of snakebite there in the last five years, The Hindu reports. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is the guardian minister of the district.