Twitter
Advertisement

Powai lake crocodile lands near IIT-M wall, leaves activists rattled

The images show a young crocodile, around four-feet long, on the promenade, with some people trying to shoo it away using branches.

Latest News
article-main
The four-foot long crocodile that climbed onto the promenade
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Images of a crocodile on the promenade of the smaller Ganesh immersion ghat adjoining the IIT-Mumbai boundary wall were being circulated on the social media on Wednesday, leaving not only the activists worried but the visitors rattled as well.

The images show a young crocodile, around four-feet long, on the promenade, with some people trying to shoo it away using branches.

According to Sunish Subramanian Kunju, founder of the Plant and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS)-Mumbai, an eye-witness of the incident contacted him and provided him with the week-old images. “I visited the site known as Panchkutir Ganpati Visarjan Ghat on Wednesday morning. There I saw that the crocodile could have used the path created due to silt being collected on the banks by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The silt has created a path leading to the promenade,” said Kunju.

He also informed that a stretch of land has formed in the area over the years because of the debris dumped there. “It's the result of BMC's ignorance. Most of the debris was not removed and then even silt was dumped there. With trucks moving regularly over the area, a small patch of land has now formed,” he said, adding that they will be writing to the BMC to get the silt and debris cleared on a priority basis.

In fact, activists have now begun to alert visitors to the area using social media. “The lake levels rise during monsoon and there is always a chance of crocodiles coming out, losing their way and landing on the promenade,” said Kunju, adding that the site was popular among many people.

Meanwhile, Dr Pramod Salaskar, who has been carrying out studies on the Powai lake, said they have asked the BMC to demarcate certain areas as no man's zone, so that crocodiles could bask there, and this particular location was one of them.

“Due to the beautification of the Powai lake, a lot of disturbance was created. Some of the old basking sites were destroyed. Basking is essential for crocodiles. They have now started finding new places to bask. This could be how this crocodile landed on the promenade,” he said, adding that even he had received information about the incident.

When contacted, a forest official said, “We have put up boards suggesting that the lake has crocodiles and people should not venture close to the water body.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement