Crowds enthusiastic to witness Ganesh idol immersion festivities at the Saroornagar Lake will have to be extremely cautious about new, unexpected guest(s) this time round.
If by quirk of fate, one slips into the water during the gala, there is a remote, but not unlikely, risk of becoming meal of a reptile that has made the lake its home of late.
A crocodile which strayed into the Saroornagar Lake during the 2020 floods has made the GHMC officials advertise about its presence to caution people against getting too close to the water.
The civic officials have put up sign boards at several places around the lake and the control room, cautioning people about the reptile. This has been done in view of the ongoing immersions in the lake, which is second only to Hussainsagar in attracting crowds on the final day of Ganesh festivities.
While nobody has any clue about how the crocodile surfaced here, officials from the Saroornagar Circle surmise that it might have crossed over into the lake upstream from Musi or from any other surplus channel during the 2020 floods when water rose to unusual levels, and surged back into the lake.
“We are certain about the presence of at least one crocodile in the lake, though unsure if there are more. In view of the heavy crowding the lake witnesses on the immersion day, we have put up the sign boards as a precautionary measure,” shared an official from GHMC.
Videos of the reptile made the rounds of social media during the floods in 2020, and several eyewitnesses had also vouched for the presence of crocodiles in the lake. Pictures and videos were also posted of crocodiles basking under the sun on rocks in the Musi river.
