A six-feet-long crocodile that strayed into the Khadakwasla Canal on Monday evening was finally rescued yesterday after more than 20 hours of chaos. A joint effort by the Katraj Zoo, the Irrigation Department (ID), the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Forest Department and locals helped rescue the reptile.
A six-feet-long crocodile that strayed into the Khadakwasla Canal on Monday evening was finally rescued yesterday after more than 20 hours of chaos. A joint effort by the Katraj Zoo, the Irrigation Department, the National Defence Academy, the Forest Department and locals helped rescue the reptile.Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com
On Monday, local boys spotted the crocodile in the canal around 6 pm and started pelting stones at it. Officials from the fire department and zoo workers rushed to the spot, the rescue operation went on till late in the night was a failure because of clamouring locals.
Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com
A Forest Department worker even managed to catch the beast, but it slipped out of his hand and escaped. The Irrigation Department reduced water supply to the canal from the dam for one hour yesterday, from 12.45 am to 1.45 am, and then twice again for about an hour each later in the day.
Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com
N D Gaikwad, sectional engineer of the dam, said the Pune Municipal Corporation was informed before reducing the water flow. PMC city engineer (water supply) Prashant Waghmare said the city received low pressure water for about three hours in the day. "The supply has been restored and is back to normal," he said.
Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com
The next day saw the reptile disappearing and bobbing up repeatedly with rescuers patiently positioning the nets to trap it.
Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com
The crocodile was finally captured around 4.30 pm. "It will be first taken to Katraj Zoo, from where it will be transferred to the Forest Department," said Hari Ghadge, animal keeper at the Katraj Zoo.
Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com
Local residents crowd into the Khadakwasla canal to catch fish released along with the waters from the dam yesterday. The 'fish rush' greatly hampered the crocodile rescue operation.
