Bharuch, 1 July 2014

Forest department employees on Monday captured a 12 ft long crocodile on the bank of river Narmada at pilgrim place Shuklatirth in Bharuch district.This is the third crocodile captured in last one month. The other two crocodiles were captured at Kavitha and Kadod.

As the exact figure of number of crocodiles in this area is not known, the district administration is continuing ban on river bath here due to danger of crocodiles.

Due to 120 days long overflow at Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam last year in monsoon, a huge number of crocodiles migrated to downstream areas of Narmada river in Bharuch district of central Gujarat. There have been at least two deaths due to crocodile attacks in Bharuch district in last one month, and visitors are avoiding holy river bath at Shuklatirth following crocodile’s attacks. The district administration of Bharuch has banned river bath and has installed signboards at several places on river bank in this regard.

The captured crocodiles are to be released in upstream area of river Narmada by forest department. Process of capturing more crocodiles in cages is going on.