Far from spreading panic or even dangerous, Friday’s protest rally launched by snake-charmers was rather an amusing event. The police force and trained Forest officials deployed to counter any ‘‘crises’’ in fact seemed pleased at the harmless procession of the poor community.The snake-charmers did not, however, release the reptiles in the Assembly as they had threatened but they did make a statement. Crowds gathered as women and kids from the snake-charmers’ community played with the reptiles along Mahatma Gandhi Marg near PMG Square.The two platoons of police deployed to tackle the ‘‘crisis’’, maintained a safe distance from the reptiles. Three senior Forest officials, led by Director, Nandankanan, S.K. Sinha, kept a strict vigil. A contingent of Forest guards, adept at handling snakes, also kept a watch on the snake-charmers — from a distance.Orissa has more than 20,000 snake-charmer families; about 4,000 of them live in Padmakesharpur, a village near the city. Mahendra Parida, convenor of Lok Adhikar Manch, a body fighting for the community, said: ‘‘The State Government must provide an alternative source of livelihood to the snake-charmers or allow them to carry on with their trade in a legal manner.’’
