Crocodiles gatecrash Baroda homes

Vadodara: The provision store is a barely two-minute walk for those living in Casa Residency in Vadsar. But when it rains heavily, they need a boat to reach the shop. If someone walks through the flooded road, chances are high that he/she may be dragged away or bitten by a crocodile.
The residential scheme has come up near Vishwamitri River, the abode of crocodiles, and one of its tributaries flows next to the buildings with hundreds of houses. On Tuesday night, water gushed on the 300-metre long approach road of the colony and blocked the entry and exit for residents.
“The civic body started making announcements asking all the residents to shift to some safer location. Once the building premises are flooded, we can’t step out as crocodiles swim right up to the gates. We have to call in rescue boats that ferry us out of our apartment,” said Arvind Khopkar, one of the residents. In the last three weeks, when the city received significant rainfall, nearly 15 crocodiles have been rescued from different areas.
Vadodara is probably the only city in the country where citizens are scared more about crocodiles than flood waters. Many people purchased homes in the residential schemes that came up on the river bank to get a nice view, but during monsoon, they are locked up inside.
“In 2019 floods, crocodiles swam right to our doorstep as our colony was submerged in three feet of water. It was very scary. We couldn’t dare to step out of our flat on the ground floor even for buying provisions,” recalled Himanshu Ganatra, a marketing professional. The nine-year-old residential colony has seven towers and each building has 32 flats.
Residents of another high-rise scheme right on the river bank in Sayajigunj too have been living in fear of crocs. “When the river water crosses 18 foot level, chances are very high that crocodiles swim on the road in our area,” said Alka Karandikar, resident of Darshanam Flats.