Kendrapara: Kendrapara district in coastal Odisha continues to experience a distressing surge in human-animal conflict, with yet another tragic incident of a crocodile attack resulting in a fatality as a sexagenarian lost his life Thursday in Brahmani river in front of his son. As the person identified as Abhaya Rout stepped into the water on the river bank to clean his utensils, a giant crocodile pounced on the leg of Rout and later dragged him into the middle of the river. Abhaya’s son Anil Rout who was standing near him screamed for help and made an attempt to save his father by attacking the crocodile with a bamboo stick but in vain.
On being informed, Forest officials and Fire brigade personnel reached the spot and launched a search and rescue operation, but till the last report came in, the body was yet to be retrieved from river water. The reptile-human conflict has been going on in regular intervals mostly at Pattamundai, Kendrapara, Rajnagar, Aul, Rajkanika and Mahakalapara blocks of the coastal district. As many as six persons, including a minor boy and a woman, have lost their lives in crocodile attacks in the last two months. In another incident, a huge crocodile was spotted roaming on the main road in Rajnagar area in Kendrapara district Tuesday night. The huge reptile was spotted in the Khandamara pentha in Rajnagar block. The movement of the crocodile has been recorded on camera which has gone viral in the social media.
As per reports, local people saw a huge crocodile roaming on the main road Tuesday night. First a few local children saw the crocodile roaming on the road. As they screamed the crocodile ran into a canal nearby. The fear of crocodile attack has largely increased in the villages Kendrapara, Pattamundai, Rajnagar blocks along the Brahmani river. The locals have expressed frustration towards the Forest department officials, accusing them of inaction in the face of these recurring tragedies. Saltwater crocodiles, whose population is booming in the Bhitarkanika National Park and surrounding wetlands near the Odisha coast after four decades of conservation, are now out to explore new territories, fuelling a conflict with humans.