On August 3, Thakor Bachu Vasava, 33-year-old resident of Diver village in Vadodara district, Gujarat, took his cattle to graze on the banks of the Narmada. Little did he imagine that a few minutes later, he would be trapped in the jaws of a seven-foot predator. A crocodile attacked Vasava and dragged him into the depths of the river, before killing him. His body was fished out later by rescuers of the State’s forest department.
Earlier in April, a 60-year-old man from Vadodara city was attacked and pulled into the Vishwamitri river by a large crocodile. The incident caused much panic and fear among the residents of the neighbourhood, as the reptile refused to let go of the body. A tug of war between the rescuers and the crocodile lasted nearly an hour.
In May, Hitesh Barot, a California-based lawyer who had come to India on an assignment, was killed when he went for a swim in the Narmada at his ancestral village of Bhalod in Bharuch district. In July, a woman in her 20s was dragged away from the banks of the Dev river. A search party was sent out, but even hours later her body could not be traced.
In the last five months, six human lives have been lost to these predators, with over a dozen attacks also being reported. Found mostly in the water bodies of central Gujarat — the Narmada, Vishwamitri and Mahi — crocodiles have become a nightmare for the people of Vadodara district. While the
According to an estimate (there is no official crocodile census yet), Gujarat is home to around 1,400 crocodiles. The State is one of the largest crocodilian habitats in India after Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Their total population in the country is estimated to be around 5,000. While most of Gujarat’s crocodiles are found in the Narmada, the Mahi and Vishwamitri rivers are home to a large number too. Vadodara district is possibly the worst-affected as all the three rivers flow through it. The Vishwamitri even passes through the heart of Vadodara city.
During the monsoons, when the rivers get flooded, mugger crocodiles migrate to small ponds and lakes in villages. In this season, they lay eggs, and hatchlings make the ponds their own habitat. In some cases, reptiles that move into villages are captured and released into other reservoirs already populated with crocodiles. “They are rescued and set free in the Aajwa reservoir on the outskirts of Vadodara. Their population has increased manifold in the last few years. And that means an increasing number of human-crocodile encounters,” says Ashok Pawar, corporator at Vadodara Municipal Corporation. The 22-km stretch of the Vishwamitri in Vadodara is home to more than 200 mature crocodiles.
With the growing number of human-crocodile conflicts, the State forest department has swung into action, spreading awareness about safe practices on the banks of the rivers. Crocodiles are one of the 24 reptilian species protected under Schedule I (Part II) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Any violation of the Act can result in up to seven years of imprisonment. Victims of these reptilian attacks are given compensation from the State government — kin of the deceased get ₹1.5 lakh, and the injured get anything between ₹5,000 and ₹15,000, depending on the extent of the injury.
Attacks on humans intensify during the April to July period, forest officials say. Mother crocodiles, nesting and hatching young ones, are insecure about their safety and, consequently, on high-alert and nervous. Any movement near the river banks, where the nests are usually located, aggravates the crocodiles.
But for people using the banks, it is difficult to entirely cut-off access to the river. Some wash clothes, others attempt to cross the river. Many take a plunge for fun. However, according to forest officials, crocodiles have not attacked unless they have been provoked or disturbed. “They are not habitual man-eaters. Female crocodiles are just more alert when they lay eggs. And in this period, even a slight movement can turn into a cause for an attack,” says VK Saxena, deputy conservator of forest (in-charge), Vadodara range. He says it is the increase in human movement in and along the rivers that has led to attacks.
In Vadodara, as part of the safety measures, numerous signboards carrying warnings about crocodilian dangers have cropped up over bridges and in streets. The city is beginning to feel like a large wildlife sanctuary, say some of its residents. Forest officials feel that the only way to mitigate the risk of crocodile attacks is to make people aware of the behaviour of these reptiles. Despite additional glow-in-the-dark signage and a team spearheading an awareness campaign, people tend to ignore the warnings.
The city is also seeing a rise in migrant population, which is mostly unaware of such dangers. Coupled with the fact that the Vishwamitri riverbed has been shrinking, reducing the nesting space for the crocodiles, the number of incidents has only increased.
The Vishwamitri has been divided into seven zones by the forest department. Two volunteers, two guards and one forester have been assigned to each zone. Their job is to make locals aware of their reptilian neighbours and to ensure that all safety measures are in place. The department has also identified the needs for which people turn to the rivers — toilets, washing and crossing to the other side. The forest department has apparently asked civic bodies to provide these facilities away from the riverbed.
In villages, crocodile awareness programmes are being introduced in schools and safety tips shared through group meetings. “‘ Magar thi sachavie, magar ne sachavie ’ (Keep safe from crocodiles, keep crocodiles safe) is the mission slogan. It has found a connect with the people,” says Saxena.
In stark contrast to the incidents reported in Vadodara city, a few villages nearby are responsibly preserving crocodiles in their village ponds.
At Malataj village in Anand district, a large lake has become a regular habitat for many crocodile families. The village, it appears, has set an example for co-existence. The lake is home to about 70 mature reptiles. The people, says sarpanch Durgesh Patel, remain alert to changes in crocodilian behaviour and adjust accordingly. When asked if their presence causes a sense of fear among them, the sarpanch says, there is nothing to fear. “The women go to the pond every day to wash clothes, despite knowing there are crocodiles in it. They have never attacked anyone in the history of Malataj. Crocodiles captured in other villages are also brought and set free in our lake,” he says. The idols of local goddess Khodiyaar Ma too depict the deity mounted on a crocodile — a symbol of their co-existence, say residents.
In July, when a family in the town of Sojitra, in Anand, discovered a five-foot mugger in their bathroom, forest officials captured it and brought it to Malataj.
Jigar Upadhyay, a researcher and activist for the conservation of crocodiles, believes that co-existence is the only way to end this conflict. “Crocodiles attack out of ignorance. People are also ignorant about their behaviour,” says Upadhyay, who should know. He has been researching crocodiles for over a decade now.