Freight trains halted to save injured croc

Freight trains halted to save injured croc 

Tushar.Tere@timesofindia.com 4.9.24

Vadodara : A crocodile brought trains on the western dedicated freight corridor to a halt for ninety minutes on Tuesday. Goods trains on this line were stopped after an injured crocodile was spotted on the tracks in Karjan. “We got a call at about 8.30am on Tuesday that an eight-foot crocodile had been seen on the tracks. We immediately left for the spot, which was about 35km away. It took us 90 minutes to get there because of traffic,” said Neha Patel, an animal welfare activist. “Railway authorities didn’t let any train run on the track for over 90 minutes. It was a noble gesture by them,” Patel told TOI. Patel and the forest department personnel reached the spot and found that the crocodile was severely injured but alive. “We rushed it to Vadoda ra for treatment. It took us some time as we had to carry it to our vehicle,” she said. The round forest officer in Karjan, Kunvarsinh Bodana, said, “We appreciate the railway authorities for stopping traffic to save the crocodile, which seems to have been hit by a train. Its jaw is injured, and it is being treated in Vadodara.”