Andhra Pradesh - Nalgonda   

Mission impossible on day 1

Staff Reporter

WHERE'S IT?: Villagers trying to catch a glimpse of the crocodile on Saturday. PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

NALGONDA: The daylong efforts of Forest Department personnel to save a crocodile trapped in a well at Amaravaram in Huzurnagar mandal proved futile on Saturday. The reptile is apparently `hiding' in a corner of the unused well's bed.

Forest Range Officer, Miryalaguda division, K. Sudharshan Reddy and his men used two electric motors to pump water out of the well in which the crocodile was trapped on Friday.

High water level

The rescue operation turned out to be difficult as the water level in the well was very high. "The water could not be pumped out in a day. We had to postpone the operation to Sunday as a pipe attached to a motor got damaged," Mr. Reddy said.

He said that the crocodile was about two metres long.

"We could have rescued it on Friday itself when it had crawled out of the well's bed. But, the commotion made by villagers forced it to slip back," he said.

"A couple of beat officers of the Nagarjunasagar Crocodile Zone are with us. I will also bring some expert fishermen to help us," the officer said. He admitted that his staff did not have the expertise to deal with such exigencies.

All roads in Amaravaram led to the village, rather this well. Hundreds of people from nearby villages gathered in the fields to have a closer look of the unexpected guest.

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Mission impossible on day 1

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