Air India plane crash: Fauna near BJ Medical College, cared for by doctors & staff, falls silent
The crash site at
BJ Medical College
, surrounded by lush greens on three sides, was not only home to junior resident doctors but also to a vibrant ecosystem of at least 30 peacocks, 20 dogs, and several species of birds and cows.
In the days since the crash, this once-lively campus has fallen eerily silent. According to sources, the remains of at least four peacocks, five dogs, and more than 50 birds have been found in the past five days.
A watchman posted at the college told ET that the days leading up to the monsoon were blissful. The cries of peacocks would echo across the campus, and the green expanse bustled with life. "Now, you can only hear a couple of them," he said.
Resident doctors and the mess staff who regularly fed the stray dogs either perished in the crash or have abandoned the college premises since the tragedy. The surviving animals now wander the site, unfed and thirsty.
On Sunday afternoon, reporters standing outside the barricaded area of the crash site heard a dog howling for more than 15 minutes.
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"Our NGO, along with other NGOs, got multiple calls. Over the past five days, we've recovered several remains from the site. It has been difficult," said the founder of a local NGO sharing the ground reality. "We have to carefully move through the debris to pick up what's left. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if it is animal remains or something else.
"It's not easy, but we have to do it," he said, adding that volunteers had cremated over 50 birds and five dogs charred at the site.
The task has been particularly sensitive as body parts of some of the crash victims are still being recovered from the area.
The Centre for Nurture and Care of Dogs (CNCD) has been deployed to keep carnivorous animals away from the site to prevent further contamination and to manage the risk of animals scavenging on human remains.
Sources confirmed that several dogs were killed when the London-bound Air India flight crashed into the medical college hostel last Thursday, adding that at least one peacock also perished in the crash.
"We have handed over the body of the peacock to the forest department, as it is a Schedule One protected bird," said Naresh Rajput, who serve as head of the cattle nuisance control department (CNCD) of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and is also involved in the rescue and clearance operations. Even as the crash site remains under close watch, the loss of both human and animal life continues to haunt those working on the ground.
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