The ghats of Vishwamitri River in the city reverberated with Sanskrit shlokas chanted by a priest. Dozens of Barodians turned up for the gathering and offered condolences. But not for any fellow human.
In a first, wildlife activists organized a condolence meet for a 10-foot-long crocodile that was found dead in Vishwamitri River about a week ago. It was the fourth crocodile to have died in the river within two months
“He was like a member of our family and stayed among us for so many years. We had spotted him many times during our visit to the river. His sudden death pained us and so we decided to pay tribute to the reptile. It was heartening to see many citizens attending the meet,” said Vishal Thakur, a wildlife activist who had organized the meet on Sunday along with Sanjay Soni.