Savita Kumari
Port Blair, Jan 05: Frequent sighting of crocodiles in the Nallah near Pinakinagar and Jaipur villages has allegedly triggered a sense of fear among residents of the area.
In this regard Mr. Manojit Halder, President of Betapur Block Congress Committee, Billiground has demanded to shift the crocodiles to a safe zone in order to avoid any kind of human-animal conflict.
According to Mr. Halder, frequent movement of crocodiles in the Nallah between Korang nallah Bridge to Pinakinagar Bridge beside the playground of GMS Billiground has been reported since the last 5 to 6 months.
He claimed that a written complaint has been given to the higher authorities of the Forest Department by him but as per Mr. Halder till date, no action has been initiated to shift the crocodiles.
“Only some forest labourers have been deputed for making announcements that no one should venture into or beside the Nallah,” he alleged.
He added that nowadays the villagers are having acute shortage of water for their crops and domestic animals and for the same reason, they need to utilize the water from nearby Nallah. Besides that, some villagers cross the Nallah to minimize their journey time to home at Kamalapur, Pinakinagar I & II. But the increase in sightings of the crocodiles in these areas has triggered panic among villagers, he alleged.
The President BBCC has written a letter to the Member of Parliament and urged him to take up this matter with competent authorities for shifting the crocodiles to a safe zone.
