Vadodara. Due to very heavy rains between August 27 and August 29 in Vadodara city of Gujarat, the water level of Vishwamitri river rose and a total of 24 crocodiles were washed away with the flood water and reached residential areas. A forest department official said on Sunday that all these crocodiles have been rescued. According to Karan Singh Rajput, forest officer of Vadodara range, about 440 crocodiles live in the Vishwamitri river, many of which get washed away and reach residential areas during floods caused by the release of water from the Ajwa dam.
Rajput said, “During these three days, apart from 24 crocodiles, we also rescued 75 other animals, including snakes, cobras, five large turtles weighing about 40 kg and a porcupine.” There are many residential areas near the Vishwamitri river. He said, “The smallest crocodile we rescued is two feet long, while the largest crocodile is 14 feet long. It was caught from Kamnath Nagar on the river bank on Thursday. Local residents had informed us about it. Apart from these, two other 11-foot-long crocodiles were rescued on Thursday from an open area near the EME Circle and the Department of Biology of MS (Manonmaniam Sundaranar) University.” Rajput said that no case of human-crocodile conflict was reported during these three days of very heavy rain.
He said, “Crocodile usually does not attack humans. They survive by eating fish and animal remains in the river. They can also kill and eat dogs, pigs and other small animals. The video of one such incident went viral recently.” Rajput said that since the water level of Vishwamitri river has decreased considerably now, the rescued crocodile and other animals will be released in it soon.