Post crocodile sightings, SGNP on guard

Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) officials, concerned with the reported sighting of crocodile in tourist areas of the park, are slated to increase the number of boards put up to appeal to people to refrain from entering the waters. Though there is no official record of the crocodile sighting that took place in SGNP last week, a number of complaints by the tourists has forced the officials to take action.

Monsoon being one of the most fruitful periods for the city’s only national park, SGNP has been witnessing a large footfall since the last week of June.

Officials said as many as 12,000 tourists visited the park on Sunday, due to which they had to close the gates of the park early in the evening to avoid overcrowding.

Amid the increasing number of visitors roaming around the water bodies of the park, an increase in the number of crocodile sightings has put the officials in a fix. Tourists had reported the sighting of a marsh crocodile at Muggar Dam behind the guesthouse near Lion and Tiger Safari in SGNP.

Even on Monday, July 18, one of the forest guards at the park reported the sighting of a crocodile around the lake area of the park. SGNP official Sushil Mhatre, on the other hand, said none of the forest officials have confirmed the sighting as of now.

“There are reports of the crocodile being seen at a couple of locations, but we haven’t recorded any official sighting yet. However, as a part of precautionary measures, we have installed boards, asking people to not enter the water bodies. A new set of boards is also being prepared for installation at locations reported by residents and forest guards,” said Mr Mhatre.

Senior officials said they are in the process of considering installing a CCTV surveillance system to confirm the claims of the existence of crocodiles.

“It is highly unlikely that the crocodile might have travelled from Vihar or Tulsi lakes since the distance is considerably far. However, if the reports are suggesting that there is a crocodile, we have to take action,” said an official.