‘Crocodiles found in clusters’: Report on Vishwamitri river points at reptile defying natural instincts in Vadodara

The SHRC report describes the Vishwamitri river as a “rare global example” of the Crocodylus palustris (Marsh crocodiles) inhabiting naturally in a thriving city, and sustaining the “dry-deciduous forests” of Central Gujarat, thus playing an important role in the biodiversity.

The census data cited in this report notes how the highest density of crocodiles was found in the section of the river that passes through the busier part of Vadodara city.

The crocodile census, held in February this year, has revealed that the crocodiles in the urban stretch of the Vishwamitri River passing through Vadodara city have “deviated from their natural instincts”, living in clusters in certain parts of the river stretch in the city.

The report, accessed by The Indian Express, annexes details of the aquatic species rescued during the project, including eggs of softshell turtles, marsh crocodiles and Red Wattled Lapwings, most of which were lost due to damage, in a section by the Curator of the Sayajibaug Zoo of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC).

As per the annexure, a total of 88 eggs of marsh crocodiles, 284 of softshell turtles and 38 of Red Wattled Lapwing were rescued during the course project that was undertaken during the summer — close to the breeding and nesting time of most of the species. Of these, as per the Sayajibaug Zoo, 16 crocodile eggs were hatched and released in the wild along with 26 softshell turtles and 20 Red Wattled Lapwings. Apart from these, several species of snakes including Indian Rat Snake, Russel Vipers, Cobras, Rock Pythons, Checkered Keelbacks, Sand Boa, Trinket snake as well as Monitor Lizards, softshell turtles and hatchlings of crocodiles and turtles were rescued on a daily basis and released in the wild, as per the report.

One post-mortem report of a large female softshell turtle that was killed in an accident during the project stated the cause of death as hemorrhage due to accidental injury. Dr Pratyush Patankar, Curator of Sayajibaug Zoo, told The Indian Express that most other eggs that did not survive and hatch in the immediate days after rescue were “unlikely” to hatch later.

The SHRC had taken cognisance of a report in The Indian Express dated August 30, 2024, published following the floods last year, on how the Rs 1,200 crore Vishwamitri river revamp project announced to mitigate floods, had remained merely on paper.

While the committee has recommended plants in the riverine and riparian ecosystem, and along the banks, such as water mimosa, water spinach, narrow-leaved cattail, alligator weed, wild date palms, toddy palms, tamarind, banyan and so on to allow various species of animals, birds and reptiles to thrive, one segment of the report detailed the findings of the crocodile census conducted by Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) through the urban stretch.

According to the zonation of the river for the estimation of crocodiles, the city saw “unevenly distributed” muggers across different zones. The GEER census findings, annexed in the report of the Vishwamitri committee, suggest that certain stretches of the river recorded significantly higher densities of crocodiles while others exhibited moderate to low concentration, “might be influenced by ecological factors such as habitat suitability, prey availability and so on.”

The highest densities of 44 and 39 crocodiles, respectively, were recorded in Zone 4A in 1.4 kilometer stretch from Kala Ghoda to Akota bridge and in Zone 3B on a 2.2 kilometer stretch from Narhari Hospital to Kala Ghoda. This was followed by moderate density zones including Zone 6A -1.1km stretch from Vadsar bridge to Kalali with 37 muggers and Zone 5 from Mujmahuda to Vadsar bridge along a 1.5 km stretch with 29 muggers. Comparatively, in Zone 4B from Akota to Mujmahuda, 12 muggers were seen along a 3.4 kilometer stretch and Zone 1 of 4.2 km from Vemali Highway to Sama bridge saw only nine muggers.

Dr Ranjitsinh Devkar, Assistant Professor of Zoology at MSU, who prepared the programme for the census conducted by GEER and is also part of the Vishwamitri supervisory committee, told The Indian Express on Monday that clustered population of crocodiles in city areas was a deviation from their natural instinct of being “few and far away”, as noticed in Zone 1 and Zone 4B.
Devkar said, “Looking at the uneven distribution of the crocodile population in the urban Vishwamitri River, there seems to be a change in the pattern in which crocodiles inhabit water bodies… They were found in clusters in certain zones of the city, which is, perhaps, due to easy availability of food due to the dumping of hotel and hospital waste as well as easy prey with dogs and pigs frequenting the riverine area.”

Devkar said, “Another reason for the uneven clusters could also be that in several places of the urban stretch of the river, the sewage pipes that open into the Vishwamitri river make the temperature of the water warmer and (we) are sure to see crocodiles (since they are drawn to the warm temperature)… Since they should be scattered far and few across the river length, as is seen in the outskirts, these factors do indicate that being an adaptive species, the crocodiles have deviated from their natural instinct for territorial fights and cannibalism…”
The report also states that a total of 16 crocodile burrows were also recorded across the urban stretch — which was much lower than the 40 burrows recorded in 2009. The census observed some fights due to territory and breeding season in Zone 5 (Mujmahuda to Vadsar).

The two-part report of over 240 pages states, “The riverine ecosystem is not only necessary for ground water recharge and mitigation of floods but also for biodiversity, being an epicenter of a unique blend of floral and faunal diversity– especially as a natural habitat to a large population of crocodiles and also ants, bees, aphids, locusts, grasshoppers, lizards, calotes, toads, frogs, snakes, civets, porcupine, mongoose, jackal, fish, molluscs, and turtles. This ecosystem also supports a healthy biodiversity of resident and migratory species of terrestrial birds and waders viz. king fishers, woodpeckers, parakeets, sparrows, mynah, egrets, herons, storks and ibises to name a few. These faunal forms constitute an intricate food web in the Vishwamitri ecosystem…”

Devkar said, “The entire pre-monsoon Vishwamitri restoration work involving debris removal and desilting work was basically a soft engineering project… Our supervision was from the objective of ensuring that no major damages take place to the flora and fauna. In the interest of existing fauna, we had intervened to retain some vegetation along one side of the riverbank by conveying that it was important to ensure that there was enough space for crocodile nests and crocodile basking before the debris removal… Currently, we are conducting a comparative study on the basking sites to understand if the muggers stay in their original site or shift to new sites after the revamp. It will also help us understand the basking requirements for a crocodile…”

Devkar said that while the crocodiles of four to eight feet and above can sustain themselves, it is the hatchlings of under one feet that the committee is concerned about. “Not just the crocodiles but other Schedule-1 species under India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, such as Indian Flapshell turtles and Bengal monitor lizards as well as other species face a threat due to the removal of vegetation. Some patch of green should be left untouched…”

The report recommends ecological studies to take informed initiatives and a continuous monitoring of the Vishwamitri watershed as well as a scientific plan for plantation drives for long-term sustenance of the ecology and biodiversity.

Devkar stated, “We believe that once the restoration of the river is completed, the reptiles will also revert to their natural ways and not be found (in clusters)… We recommend that the restoration of the river should involve no artificial construction material being introduced into the river in the form of cemented embankments. We also expect that once the project is complete, the floodplains will have their own ecosystem and eventually welcome other birds that will create and enrich the biodiversity along the river.”

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