Kolhapur: Fear of reptiles keeps flood-hit villagers from returning home

KOLHAPUR: The waters of the Krishna river in Sangli and Panchaganga in Kolhapur, which had inundated nearby villages, are receding. However, people are afraid to return to their villages, fearing crocodiles and snakes that have invaded their homes or the neighbourhood.
Crocodiles have been seen nestling on rooftops of huts situated along the river banks and also on the roads nearby.
Sadashiv Jadhav of Malibhag in Walwa taluka of Sangli said, “A 10-foot crocodile, resting on the Krishna river banks on Tuesday, returned to the flood waters before the authorities arrived. We are in a state of fear and the women particularly are not ready to go back to their houses. They say they will wait for the flood waters to recede further and the reptiles to return to the river.”
Fear of reptiles keeps flood-hit villagers from returning home
Sangeeta Mane from Kasbe Digraj in Sangli said, “In 2019 too, several crocodiles were found across our village. We are not taking a chance of returning home soon. But the administration should do something about this.”
Prakash Sutar, range forest officer for Miraj, said, “Our department vehicle is going from village to village alerting people over the loudspeaker to thoroughly check their homes for crocodiles and snakes. A large crocodile was found in the Lingayat community burial ground at Sangliwadi area on Wednesday noon. It was caught and will be released into its habitat soon. If anyone come across crocodiles, snakes or any other wild animals alive or dead, they should contact the forest department helpline on 1926 immediately.”
Crocodile rescuers say people should not panic. Amol Jadhav, a crocodile expert and rescuer and also a member of the Nature Conservation Society in Sangli, said, “It’s natural to find crocodiles out of the rivers these days as their metabolism in the cold flood waters is very low. Tar roads are the best place for them to get heat. People should not panic as the chances of crocodiles attacking humans in the monsoon is very low.”
Crocodiles are aggressive during their breeding season in the winters and tend to attack humans who enter their territory or come near their eggs, Jadhav said. Meanwhile, many venomous snakes have been found hiding under household furniture and utensils in Kolhapur.
Pradeep Sutar, member of the Wildlife Protection and Research Society in Kolhapur, said, “There are eight members in my team here and each of them is receiving around 15-20 calls daily about both poisonous and non-poisonous snakes.”