Crocs in Ponda nullah surprise locals

PONDA: No one in Nagazar-Ponda believed the crier, but he persisted with his claim that crocs have made their presence in the nullah at its course from Mahadev temple till the culvert on the Haveli-Curti road. While the news came as a surprise to many, few opined that the aquatic creatures must have strayed there during the abundant rainfall that nature bestowed upon Ponda last year.
"They are four in number. Perhaps the number may be more. They are shy creatures... the presence of humans discourages them to bask in the sun at the only rubble stretch around the canyon," said Basappa, who first brought the news of the creatures to the notice of the village folks about a month ago.
The 7-km-long Ponda nullah, goes from Bethora-Kanneval to Undir, and is the town's lifeline. For industrialists it is where they can abandon their rejects, for the construction lobby it is a dumping ground for debris, for the hoteliers it is a sewage canal and for the locals, with an exception of few, it is a place where to dispose anything... and now, it is a habitat for crocs.
When news about crocs spread in the village, many began flocking to the nullah stretch where Basappa had first glimpsed the mammals. Soon people were gathering in hordes there and passers-by on the Belgaum-Ponda highway bypass started craning their necks through windows wondering why people were crowding around the watery body.
Local panch Narayan Naik said, "Never in the past four decades have we heard of crocodiles in the nullah. Now, villagers will have to take precautions before venturing into nullah. We have already informed the forest department about the presence of crocs, but there wasn't any communication from their part."
"People venture into water at the Mahadev temple stretch to dispose of the floral and other remains after performing the puja at the shrine. Womenwash linen and kids swim into the nullah. Similarly, livestock also takes solace in the water at this stretch," he said, adding, "If no attempt is made to shift these crocs, then there are chances of somebody falling prey to them." A senior citizen of the area, Nilakanth Naik, voiced similar concerns. "We first pooh-poohed Basappa's claim. Being here for the last four decades, we never heard or came across the presence of crocs in the nullah, until he highlighted their presence. Now, since we have seen them, there is a need to take proper initiative so that there should not be any danger to the humans or livestock," the senior citizen says.
"When I first saw a croc, I thought it must have strayed from a nearby plantation. I brought the fact to the notice of the people around," Narayan Naik quoted Basappa as saying. Nagazar youth Anil Naik said, "It's dangerous to catch fish and crabs now in the nullah as it's crocodile-infested. Two of the crocs are big while the other two seem to be baby crocodiles." The panchayat member says, "Forest officials at Ponda didn't do much except saying that a signboard could be put up there cautioning locals about the amphibians." While the crocs have become an object of amusement to a few, others express their apprehension and focus on need to shift them, and yet others have decided not to venture into the nullah until the stretch becomes free from crocodiles.