A baby crocodile surfaced from an open drain in Hyderabad during rains that lashed the city on Wednesday evening. The reptile came out of the drain in Chintal Basti in Khairatabad, triggering panic among local residents in the area in the heart of the city.
People were in for a shock when the young crocodile crawled out of the drain which was in spate due to the downpour. They informed the police, who, in turn, alerted the Forest Department.
The reptile was spotted at the place where a bridge is being constructed over the drain. Large number of curious onlookers gathered to have a look at the crocodile, which is believed to have been washed ashore in the flood water.
After a four-hour-long operation, the Forest Department, with the help of Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams and police, caught the crocodile. The reptile was later shifted to Nehru Zoological Park in the city.
The crocodile may have come from Gandipet upstream, which is around 25 kilometers from the city, according to Forest Officer M Joji. Similar reports of crocodile sightings in the Musi river were reported earlier too. In September 2020 when people reported seeing a crocodile close to Rajendra Nagar near Attapur however the crocodile escaped capture that time despite the quick action of forest and police personnel.
Osman Sagar, often referred to as Gandipet Lake, is over 100 years old and contains 15 gates, each of which may be opened to let water flow into the Musi River. Following the terrible Musi River floods in Hyderabad in 1908 that claimed hundreds of lives, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were both constructed outside of the city based on suggestions from well known engineer M Visweswaraya.