Pathway to ease up excavation in lake has also facilitated easy movement of these crocodiles – right out of the depths of the lake water, straight onto the promenade.
A pathway constructed by the BMC to ease up the movement of excavators and to allow the passage of trucks, has also eased up the free movement of crocodiles – out from the depths of the Powai Lake on to the adjacent promenade.
People out for a stroll in the evening were caught unawares when they found a female crocodile amid pedestrians at the Powai promenade last weekend. The promenade is situated on the JVLR road — opposite a bevy of residential buildings and quite close to the IIT, Bombay campus. Many locals responded by prodding the creature with tree branches.
Sunish Subramanian Kunju from Plant & Animal Welfare Society said, “A female crocodile came out of Powai Lake on Monday from the area near the entry gate of Panchkutir Chota Ganpati Visarjan Ghat. This happened because of the ongoing BMC work inside the lake. The work cites beautification and de-silting as reasons. They have built a stretch of land for the dumping of debris, but now instead of removing it, it’s been used by trucks for moving in and around the lake to carry the silt away.”
The pathway has also damaged the promenade, which was constructed four years back. Though the water of this lake is not potable, the lake is home to many crocodiles and the Anglers Association also operates from here.
The work had started on the behest of local MP Kirit Somaiya, who had asked the BMC to remove water hyacinths from the lake two months ago.
Hydraulic Engineer V Deshpande was not aware of crocodiles coming onto the main road. But a senior engineer supervising the work said, “We had undertaken the work of cleaning up the vegetation and hyacinths. But now the entire lake is covered with water. We know of a crocodile coming near Nisarg Udyan a few days back. Now the lake is full of water and they may not be having a spot for basking in the sun.”
While K P Singh, chief conservator of the Thane territorial region said, “I had got pictures of crocodiles that were on the move. I had asked my deputy conservator Kishor Thakare to look into the matter of crocodiles breaching the lake boundaries.”
But Kunju is of the opinion that this occurred due to the lack of space for the crocodiles to bask in. He also urged pedestrians to inform the concerned authorities if they came across any more such crocodiles.
Source: MumbaiMirror.com
