After a six-month wait, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has finally decided to trap the crocodile that was spotted in the Katraj Lake in November last year. An expert from the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, a Chennai-based group, will scan the lake for the crocodile on Sunday and trap it if spotted.

“One of the members of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust has informed us that she will visit the lake on Sunday. She is coming to Pune for some personal work and has promised to carry out the task without any remuneration,” said Bhanudas Mane, chief of the civic garden department.

“For the crocodile to be trapped, it is necessary to ascertain if it is still there or not. We have decided to first conduct a check and then proceed further,” Mane said.

The spotting of a crocodile by a group of visitors in the lake had caused a scare among the general public, and the MTDC boating service was immediately suspended, leading to losses to the corporation. The authorities of PMC’s Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park had earlier contacted the same organisation to trap the crocodile, but it had then informed its inability to carry out the task.

The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust was founded in 1976 by herpetologist Romulus Whitaker. Besides crocodiles, the bank also maintains 12 endangered species of turtles and tortoises and five species of snakes, including the king cobra.

Chandan Suratwala of All-India Anti-Corruption Committee (AIACC), who had demanded that the MTDC boat services should not be resumed unless the crocodile is caught, said, “At last, the PMC has woken up. If this happens, the citizens of Pune can once again enjoy the boating facility and the MTDC will not have to suffer losses as well.”

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