Now, a ‘shelter’ for wayward crocodiles!

AHMEDABAD: They say, necessity is the mother of invention. Increasing incidents of crocodile attacks and straying into human settlements have forced the forest department to ‘detain’ them in Pavagadh and scout for tourism potential as well.

According to chief conservator of forests (CCF), Vadodara division, S K Shrivastav, it has been decided that stray reptiles will now be bundled off to a unique ‘Kala Pani’ carved out of an abandoned quarry of blacktrap in the Dhobi Ghat area.“It will be spread over one hectare. The place is 54km from Vadodara city,” he said.
The step may bring respite to those in Vadodara city and villages along the Charotar belt who usually see these reptiles lurking in water bodies in their vicinity. Today, there are close to 250 crocodiles in Charotar belt and 300 in Vadodara city.
The work on creating the unique habitat has already begun and it will be ready in two months. “The area will house more than 100 crocodiles,” said Shrivastav. “The forest department usually releases the rescued crocodiles. Now, they will be released in this zone. There are 37 such abandoned mines that can be exploited for similar purposes,” said deputy conservator of forests Anshuman Sharma.
What has prompted the move is the gradual increase in incidents of human-reptile conflicts. In Vadodara, citizens may have made peace with these jawed reptiles, but Vishwamitri river has witnessed crocodile attacks at Sama lake and Asoj lake where five lives were lost in 2014. In 2017, two injuries were reported in Vishwamitri river, while in the following year, three injuries were recorded there. “People in the Charotar belt have learnt to live with crocodiles, which is not the case in Vadodara city,” said former Wildlife Institute of India (WII) member B C Choudhry.
The growing attacks are also being reasoned to the growing number of crocodile population. These reptiles are highly territorial, making them more prone to attacks. The 2015 census had revealed presence of over 260 crocodiles in the 25km stretch of Vishwamitri river that passes through the heart of Vadodara.
In the Anand-Charotar belt, 58 crocodiles were sighted at Deva village in Anand district. After Deva, the maximum number of crocodiles (38) were sighted in the two water bodies of Heranj, followed by 28 and 25 in Traj and Dabhou villages.