Ratnagiri: The video of an eight-foot-long crocodile strolling on a rain-swept road in a coastal Maharashtra town has gone viral on social media.
The video was shot by an autorickshaw driver in Chinchnaka area of Chiplun town in Ratnagiri district amid a steady downpour, an official said.
A few other vehicles are also seen in the video, which shows an autorickshaw trying to tail the crocodile with its headlight on.
The crocodile likely ventured into the town from Shiv or Vashishti rivers nearby, the official said.
A local expert, Sandesh Sansare, who runs the Kokan Crocodile Safari in the River Vashishti around 20 kms away, said that Chinchnaka is very close to the Shiv River bend and owing to the downpour witnessed in the last few days there, the crocodile may have ambled on to the roads to reach a dry area.
“There was a similar incident here owing to some work near the river shores a couple of years ago that had left people scared. Though the presence of the big lizard caused panic, the crocodile had gone away without causing any harm,” Sansare told IANS.
In Sunday’s incident, there were no pedestrians but many people driving by were seen stopping to click photos or videos and sharing them on social media.
Later the scary visitor seemed to have vanished from the scene.
IANS