Vishwamitri Flood Mitigation Venture Saves 410 Crocodile, Turtle, and Fowl Eggs in Vadodara

Between April and June this 12 months, the banks of the Vishwamitri River in Vadodara grew to become the stage for a fragile balancing act as authorities undertook large dredging to forestall future floods whereas concurrently working to protect the river’s wealthy and fragile biodiversity.

Engineering meets ecology on the Vishwamitri River

Dr Ranjitsinh Devkar, Assistant Professor of Zoology at Maharaja Sayajirao College of Baroda, is spearheading this unprecedented operation. He led a crew of volunteers in a conservation initiative built-in into the Rs 1,200-crore Vishwamitri Flood Mitigation Venture.

Whereas the bodily dredging was undertaken by the Vadodara Municipal Company and the Narmada Water Sources and Water Provide Division, the environmental part was supervised by a committee of consultants appointed by the State Human Rights Fee (SHRC), together with Dr Devkar.

Years of unlawful dumping and encroachments had drastically lowered the Vishwamitri’s movement capability, resulting in recurrent floods in Vadodara. Following extreme flooding in August final 12 months, the state authorities, beneath SHRC instructions, revived the long-delayed mitigation plan, first proposed in 2008, with renewed concentrate on biodiversity safety.

Based on the committee’s report, as cited by The Indian Specific, the river’s riparian zone is a biodiversity hotspot. It helps a variety of species, together with bugs, molluscs, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals like porcupines and jackals. 

Most importantly, the river is dwelling to roughly 440 crocodiles throughout a 25-kilometre stretch, in line with a February census by the Gujarat Ecological Schooling and Analysis Basis and the forest division.

With the flood-control work overlapping the breeding season of key species, conservation needed to proceed hand-in-hand with engineering.

Rescuing life earlier than the machines roll in

Every morning earlier than excavators arrived, Dr Devkar’s crew scanned the riverbanks for nests. Crocodiles and turtles lay eggs in dug-out soil, whereas red-wattled lapwings, identified for his or her well-camouflaged floor nests, required knowledgeable monitoring. Finding these eggs took persistence, commentary, and educated eyes.

Initially, eggs have been relocated to safer areas close by. Between 26 March and seven June, 410 eggs, together with 88 crocodile, 284 turtle, and 38 chicken eggs, have been transferred to Vadodara’s Sayaji Baug Zoo for incubation.

This mission, described by The Indian Specific as a primary of its form, concerned excessive care in egg dealing with. Reptile eggs, specifically, can’t be rotated or repositioned with out risking the embryo’s survival. Volunteers photographed the eggs earlier than transport to assist zoo employees replicate their actual orientation in incubation.

From hatchery to riverbank: A measured success

On the zoo, chicken eggs have been incubated in brooding chambers, however reptile eggs required specifically designed nest containers crammed with soil to imitate pure circumstances. Sustaining humidity and temperature was essential. 

In reptiles, gender is decided by incubation temperature — 29.5°C yields a near-equal male-to-female ratio. Any variation may drastically alter hatchling demographics.

The zoo’s veterinary crew operated inside a strictly managed hatchery to keep away from contamination. Regardless of cautious procedures, 34 crocodile eggs and 126 turtle eggs have been discovered broken on arrival. Nonetheless, the outcomes have been promising.

By late July, 16 crocodile hatchlings, 26 turtles, and 20 red-wattled lapwing chicks efficiently emerged. All have been launched into the identical stretches of the river from which they have been rescued, finishing a full circle from safety to rewilding.

As The Indian Specific highlighted, this initiative demonstrated that ecological sensitivity needn’t hinder improvement. As a substitute, it proved that with considerate integration, science and infrastructure can work in concord.

Edited by Vidya Gowri 

Supply:

‘As a river flows once more, crocodiles and turtles get a second likelihood at life’: by Aditi Raja for The Indian Specific, Revealed on 25 September 2025.