Crocodiles no Threat to Manjira, Dam Safety Experts Ignorant

According to Prof. B.C. Choudhury, member of the Species Survival Commission of IUCN’s crocodile specialist group, the claims including the one that they are so strong that even a well-armed group of people cannot control a crocodile, were mere hyperbole based on unverified and unscientific hearsay.

“Let our expert engineer colleagues who are worried, be explained that crocodiles, and other aquatic creatures, are a part of nature and have a role in maintaining the ecology of the aquatic systems and there really is nothing to worry about crocodiles in Manjira,” Prof. Choudhury said.

Responding to the report ‘Crocodiles a danger to Manjira: Experts panel’ published in DC on June 27, Prof. Choudhury said even the claim that the reservoir had 700 crocodiles was far-fetched.

“First of all, if there are 700 muggers in the Manjira, they would be seen everywhere in the water, and on the shores. Having initiated the Manjira crocodile sanctuary in the late 1970s, I can say with authority that there could not be more than 200-250 muggers in Manjira and that they would be no more than 30 to 40 full grown adults, and the rest would be hatchlings, juveniles and sub-adults with the largest just around 10 feet long from nose to tail tip,” he said.

On crocodiles being blamed for contaminating the water, he said, “buffaloes grazing along the water’s edge and wallowing in water and urinating and defecating are more problematic than crocodiles which have co-evolved in aquatic systems.”

Crocodiles are mostly fish eaters as are a species of cat fish that survive on eating fish and defecating in water.

On the recommendation to remove all crocodiles from the reservoir, he wondered if the experts would also want to stop birds from flying over the water and defecating.

“Top predators like crocodiles and turtles are also carrion eaters. They are being introduced into the Ganga river as part of the Namami Ganga project to keep the water clean. The Union environment ministry in collaboration with the jal shakti ministry have programmes of releasing crocodiles and turtles in various riverine systems,” he said.

Finally, with respect to the alleged threat posed by crocodiles to the dam’s gates as mentioned in the SDSO report, Prof. Choudhury said the organisation should have first collected information from the Manjira dam authority on just how many times in the last 40 years were incidents of crocodiles causing problems to the dam’s gates reported.

On the point that a crocodile tail whip lash was so powerful that it could dislodge even the steel gates of the dam, Prof. Choudhyry said: “As a crocodile specialist with over 50 years of experience in India, Asia, Africa and, North and South Americas, let me clarify that crocodiles in water are ambush and opportunistic feeders and they will not lash at anything that is not a prey animal. So, the fear that the crocodiles will attack the dam gate is simply out of question.”

He said a crocodile would use its tail only on land, along the water’s edge, for ambushing prey. “Even the reference that crocodiles are so powerful that they can pull an adult elephant into water is very occasional and such cases were reported mostly in Africa with the much-larger Nile crocodiles that can grow up to 20 feet.”

State Dam Safety Organisation claims not based on facts

Not 700 crocodiles as claimed, no more than 200-250 crocodiles in Manjira

They do not contaminate water.

Expert says pay attention to pollution

Centre introducing crocodiles for river clean up in Namami Ganga project

Crocodiles not powerful enough to damage dam gates