Mumbai: It is crocodile fears at Dadar swimming pool

Turbulence and trepidation ruled on Tuesday at the civicrun Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Olympic MGMO swimming pool next to old Mayorrsquos Bungalow DadarShivaji Park At approximately 430 am pool staffers who were carrying out their daily inspection of the pools in the complex there are four saw a small lizardlike creature roughly two feet in length floating in the 50metre poolIt was snared by a pool net and brought out ldquoAnd it was only after we felt its rough scaly skin that we realised it was a crocodilerdquo said filter plant operators Santosh M and S Das The early morning discovery whirred on social media and swimming pool WhatsApp chats The crocodile when this reporter visited the pool was kept submerged in a plastic barrel in manager Archana Deshmukhrsquos cabin Deshmukh said ldquoOur staffer Das also got a small bite to his handrdquo Das said ldquoI was bitten when I held up the crocodile for media pictures Though this is a baby crocodile the bite was like a shock I was sent to Sion Hospital and given an injectionrdquoBefore timeThe staffers said it was fortunate that the crocodile was caught before the pool opened at 6 am ldquoWe opened at the regular time after it was caughtrdquo said Deshmukh ldquoWe have informed the Forest Departmentrdquo The manager has barely completed a month at this complex but did say that she had heard of some incidents where snakes had been found in the pool complex A staffer said ldquoOur members are suffering We are responsible for their livesrdquoPolice politiciansMaharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande was seen interacting with the media next to the pool Fingers were pointed at a Marine Aqua Zoo next to the swimming pool and there were accusations that the crocodile had escaped from there and made its way to the pool A staffer said ldquoI hear they put snakes around their necks to show visitorsrdquo The party made its way to the Marine Aqua ZooFilter plant operators Santosh M and S Das who spotted the crocodile right the Marine Aqua Zoo next door to the poolZoo viewAs the pool management a police officer MNS leaders and press entered the Marine Aqua Zoo there were a few geese walking around and the party had to actually hop over carefully Cages held birds and rabbits There was also a reptile enclosure The manager Amaan Khan and owner of the zoo Yuvraj Moghe insisted that the crocodile was not from their zoo ldquoWe do not have a crocodile so how can it have escaped from our zoordquo asked Khan as the press was taking pictures of the wildlife Khan was heard telling Moghe ldquoLet them take pictures when we have not done anything wrong why should we be afraid of anybody taking picturesrdquo Khan claimed they run a ldquolegal zoordquo Deshpande was heard asking if they have all the documentation but the zoo management insisted all papers were in order Tanmay Joshi a volunteer at the zoo said ldquoWe are wildlife rescuers animal lovers Several people even give us animals which we keep here to educate visitors the general public We are visible on social media If we were illegal would we go public on social mediardquoItrsquos jealousyThe zoo staffers and management said it was jealousy that could have led to this ldquoWe had rescued a crocodile roughly 15 months ago and returned it to the forest department So out of spite or to stop us from doing similar work somebody could have released a croc in the pool complex to bring action against usrdquo said Moghe and Khan Joshi stated that this could be some nefarious design ldquoTo ensure we close down and this space be taken over for a political outfitrsquos office There are definitely many people eyeing this prime spacerdquo he explained as Khan agreed Moghe said ldquoWe have a Supreme Court order that says nobody should create any obstacles and allow us to run our project and enjoy our premises Who can be higher than the Supreme Courtrdquo he asked The police on site claimed they will investigate We witnessed Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP staffers at the zoo too soon after An SGNP employee said they were there ldquoIf any help was needed by the range forest officer for the rescuerdquoThe footageA pool member claimed ldquoMaybe sharp CCTV surveillance will show us how and from where this croc entered the pool It is just fortunate that a disaster was avertedrdquo There were plenty of messages expressing horror and shock on social media with questions being asked about the management A senior member said of the lsquoCrocodile Dundeersquo morning ldquoThis shows what we have already been stating that membership fee hikes are on the incline but the management and upkeep is on the declinerdquo430 amTime the crocodile was spotted inthe pool