Crocodiles living in ponds located near Statue of Unity in Gujarat moved to make space for seaplane service

The government of Gujarat has been transferring the resident crocodiles of the ponds close to the Statue of Unity in order to construct a seaplane terminal for the movement of tourists.
According to the news reports, about 500 crocodiles live in the two ponds located close to the statue. As of now, the forest department has relocated 15 crocodiles from the ponds into the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam reservoir, and the remaining ones shall also be released into the dam reservoir in the coming days.

News has it that the Airports Authority of India and the Department of Civil Aviation had come up with a feasibility report about introducing a seaplane service in the period immediately preceding the public launch of the Statue of Unity.
“We are rescuing the crocodiles from Ponds 3 and 4, which are close to the site,” said K Sasi Kumar, the Deputy Conservator, forests in Narmada district, said that 10 teams of officials are employed in the job of rescuing the reptiles from pond no. 3 and 4, located close to the Statue of Unity.


Reportedly, the crocodiles were lured to enter the cages by using fish as bait and had been under the care of the forest department for seven days or so.

Then after, the forest department released them into the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam reservoir.
Generally, the crocodiles seized from populated localities in the monsoon are released in the Narmada dam ponds. Even the Ajwa reservoir nearby Vadodara serves as a residence to many crocodiles.

However, the shifting of crocodiles into the dam reservoir has not gone down well with some wildlife enthusiasts. Jitendra Gavali, Director, Community Science Centre in Vadodara, told the press that moving crocodiles to make way for a seaplane terminal is not an ethical act as far as the principles of Wildlife Protection Act are concerned.

He added that letting them loose into the dam reservoir would hamper the female reptiles’ ability to nest if the slope of the dam is greater than 40 degrees. The female reptiles require space on land to breed and emerge out of the water in winter.