Medak: Stray crocodiles turn killers on banks of river Manjeera

Citizens urge the Forest and Irrigation department officials to place sign boards alerting the people on the presence of crocodiles in the area

Medak: Spotting mugger crocodiles along the River Manjeera has become a common sight as their population has swelled over the years downstream Manjeera dam and upstream Manjeera and Singur dams. In fact, a crocodile mauled a migrant worker to death in Krishna river in Jogulamba Gadwal district last Friday. With this, the fear among the people living in these areas of crocodile attacks has gone up of late.

When the Manjeera dam was declared as a crocodile breeding centre in 1978, it had just 12 mugger crocodiles including 5 sub-adults. However, the population increased manifold since 1990 here. The crocodiles ventured into lakes into which the Irrigation authorities would release water for irrigation purposes. As the Irrigation department built an artificial lake downstream Manjeera dam recently, they ventured into it as well and made it their home.

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Many tourists throng the lake during the weekends and they are seen frequently walking precariously close to the water body unaware of the danger that lay nearby. The crocodiles were also spotted multiple times in Hathnoora, Papannapet, Kulcharam and Medak mandal along the river course. An hour is enough to watch a crocodile at check dams built anywhere on Manjeera. The crocodiles are a regular sight at a check dam underneath the bridge built across the river at Shivampet near Sangareddy town.

Cattle and humans venture into the water body on a regular basis here. Though none reported attacks here, a man Golla Ramulu was mauled to death by a crocodile at Esojipet upstream Manjeera dam four years ago. Though the Irrigation department prohibited the entry of fishermen into the river, they regularly venture into the water body since they have no alternative livelihood source. Even though the crocodiles attack them, they never report such incidents to officials fearing strict implementation of the prohibition on fishing.

Citizens have urged the Forest and Irrigation department officials to place sign boards alerting the people on the presence of crocodiles in the area. They also urged the government to make constructive efforts for conservation of mugger crocodiles in river Manjeera. With last Friday’s incident of a crocodile mauling a migrant worker to death in Krishna river in Jogulamba Gadwal, the call for concrete efforts from the State government to protect people from crocodile attacks in Manjeera has become louder.