Crocodile rescue at Pokharama Village

A crocodile was seen in the pond in the month of December last year at Pokhrama village located in Lakhisarai District, Bihar. The information was given to the NEWS (HEC Project team) by DFO, Munger forest division. NEWS project manager (HEC Project) Abhishek and his team arrived at the site and tried to rescue the crocodile by putting a net in the pond, out of 4 attempts to rescue, 2 attempts were successful, but the crocodile tore the net apart. The next day, a new attempt was made using a strong net than the previous one but the crocodile left the pond and no one could trace it. The rescue was put on hold until the crocodile was seen next time.   On Friday, 4th March, 2022, the NEWS team was again informed over the phone about the sightings of the same crocodile by the villagers in the nearby pond where it was sighted earlier in Pokhrama village. On Sunday morning, the rescue team led by Abhishek reached Pokhrama and laid a trap in the pond. After a continuous search in 3-4 ponds with a low water level, the crocodile was identified in a small pond. The failure from the first attempt made the team to increase the bottom weights of the net with more bricks. Finally, the crocodile was trapped by combing the pond through the net and trapped. After a huge struggle of 4-5 hours, the crocodile was successfully rescued and health checks were performed and found to be in good health condition. The crocodile was then released on the Ganges river, much to our relief and satisfaction.