Hyderabad: The crocodiles in the Manjira Wildlife Sanctuary appear to have become unwitting villains threatening the drinking water supply to Hyderabad, if a recent report by the State Dam Safety Organisation is anything to go by.
The SDSO has also said that irrigation department officials should consult with forest department officials to explore the possibility of removing all the crocodiles from the Manjira reservoir to ensure worker safety and that of the operation. The dam safety experts also said that crocodiles were extremely strong creatures and their whiplash movements of their bodies can damage the dam’s gates.
The presence of some 700 mugger crocodiles in the reservoir formed by the Manjira dam, and their apparent shenanigans including crawling into the dam maintenance facilities, could create disruptions “to the entire (drinking water) distribution system like a “Hornet’s Nest” resulting in gridlocking of the system, a team of experts, and SDSO officials have said in their report on safety aspects of the Manjira dam.
The report said, according to the project officials, there are at least 700 “such tagged creatures” and that “they are crawling into the dam maintenance facilities creating a big risk and threat to the operations.”
The report also went on to add some helpful notes on just how strong crocodiles can be. “Crocodiles,” the report pointed out, “are on the topmost point of the food chain and have the capability to handle elephants, lions etc. Even a well-armed large group of humans cannot handle it when it is under attack mode with its inherent brute force.”
On the direct danger posed by the crocodiles to the dam structure, the State Dam Safety Organisation of the Telangana irrigation department said: “It is estimated that the force of their whip-lash is anywhere between one and two tonnes and such force can easily decommission a dam gate if it gets hit.”
Dam gates, the SDSO explained, “are dynamic elements with very least tolerances for any possible deviations in dimensions. Any brute force can misalign and make the gates dysfunctional. Because of the huge size of the gate, the dam gates are giving trouble while closing the gate leading to seepage of water. There is no chance of sending divers to seal or rectify due to the presence of the said predators.
And the solution to the crocodile problem threatening the Manjira dam structure and its operations, according to the SDSO, is the desirability “under the situation of abundant risk” to “shift the crocodiles to some other facility to mitigate risk duly consulting forest department.”
And the SDSO said this task is best suited to be handled by officials of the HMWS&SB which is the dam’s customer as it draws drinking water supply from the dam.
The SDSO further said “the water is getting contaminated due to the presence of crocodiles” and flagged the fact that it is this water from the dam that is used for drinking purposes by people of Hyderabad and villages surrounding the dam.