Berhampur: Two pythons, one measuring 11 feet and the other 7 feet, were rescued at Palligumula village on the outskirts of Berhampur town in Ganjam district late Sunday night.
Snake helpline members rescued the reptiles and then released them in their natural habitat.
According to a source, beautification work of a newly-constructed dam is underway. As a part of this work, JCB machines were engaged Sunday to dig drains. The work went on till late night. It was when the canal was opened, two huge pythons came rushing out of the pipe, leaving labourers and others present at the site terrified.
However, a JCB driver managed to stop the smaller one from moving further but the bigger snake slithered into the JCB machine and remained there.
With no option left, help from snake helpline was sought. Later, snake helpline members reached the spot and launched an operation. They first rescued the smaller python. It took them around three hours to rescue the bigger one from the JCB’s engine.
PNN