The forest, fire and police department in Dandeli town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka are searching for a 15-year-old boy who went missing after a crocodile dragged him into the Kali River. The search operations resumed on Tuesday, October 26. Mohin Mehaboob Gulbargawale went missing from the river banks of Kali while catching fish on Sunday afternoon. The police have found his footwear near the banks of the river. Witnesses have told the police that the boy was dragged into the water by a crocodile. The authorities have stopped the release of water from the Supa dam to carry out search operations.
Meanwhile, locals have complained about rising crocodile attacks. Two months ago, a huge crocodile had entered a residential locality in Dandeli town. The video of the crocodile passing through the residential lanes had gone viral. The case has raised concerns as Dandeli is a tourist destination for water rafting and jungle trekking.
Omkar Umesh, owner of Tribal Eco Shop in Dandeli, explained that the town, as a tourist destination, is witnessing an exponential growth. Tourists from Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra arrive in large numbers. In the last two years, a large number of visitors came from Hyderabad and Chennai as well, he said.
“Dandeli municipality has to build fencing along the stretch of Kali river bank. This is the first time that such a development has been reported. Though crocodiles are present in large numbers in River Kali, they have not harmed anyone till date. Large numbers of tourists visit Dandeli to sight crocodiles. Because of the proactive measures by the authorities, the breeding of crocodiles has also gone up,” he explained.