Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Kaliasot dam situated near the outskirt of the city was once a picturesque landscape. People loved to have a swim in the deep blue water of the dam or used to sit near the bank of dam during hours.
However, now the things have changed as Kaliasot dam is infested with fearful crocodiles and their population is just increasing every year. This thing is instilling fear into the heart of the masses.
People claim that till 2006, there were no crocodile in the Kaliasot dam. It was during the heavy downpour of 2006 that many crocodiles of Van Vihar spilled over to Upper Lake and from there they reached Kaliasot dam and made it as their permanent home. Earlier, the number of crocodile was less but now they are having a flourishing population.
According to a rough estimation, there are around 22 crocodiles in Kaliasot dam and some are several feet long.
In the span of 18 years, around 16 incidents have taken place wherein crocodiles have attacked humans and at least two people lost their lives. Jitendra Kansana, a local resident of Nehru Nagar police line area and father of the local corporator Devanshu Kansana, said to Free Press that at least three persons of his area have survived crocodile attack.
Wild life enthusiast Aruneshwar Saran Singh Deo said that as Van Vihar’s crocodile sneaked into Kaliasot dam, hence it’s the responsibility of Van Vihar officials to rescue all the crocodiles from Kaliasot dam and make it free from the dreaded semi-aquatic reptiles. He claimed that a person known to him had lost his life in crocodile attack at Kaliasot dam. The deceased name was Pratap.
Gajendra Yadav, son of a retired cop, said that on June 8, 2019, he and his friend Amit were taking bath in the shallow water of the dam. All of a sudden, Amit was attacked by a seven feet long crocodile and taken inside the deep waters. He took out a sharp weapon from a local fisherman and swam deep inside the water to rescue his friend. He punched the sharp object around the neck of the crocodile, making it to open its mouth and release Amit. He said that now population of crocodiles has increased by many fold since then.
