15 out, 485 more to go: Crocodiles removed for seaplane to Unity statue
25th Jan., 2019
Amid
confusion over where the reptiles would be released, the Gujarat Forest
Department has started evacuating crocodiles from two ponds on the
Sardar Sarovar Dam premises on the Narmada, to make way for the
seaplane service planned to promote tourism at the Statue of Unity.
Until
last Tuesday, 15 crocodiles had been evacuated. There are roughly 500
of them in the two ponds located adjacent to each other on the dam
premises. The mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) in the Narmada
fall under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, which covers the
most endangered species.
A multi-level committee comprising
officials of the Civil Aviation Department and Gujarat government had
cleared Pond 3, locally called ‘Magar talav (crocodile pond)’, for
setting up the seaplane terminal, to connect cities of Gujarat to the
Sardar Patel statue site.
Using fish as bait to lure them into
cages, the Forest Department has started removing the crocodiles, the
largest of them so far about 10 feet. There is no deadline as of now
for finishing the operation.
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