Even 10 days after a lorry driver from Kerala went missing following a landslide on a highway near Karwar in Karnataka, the police have been unable to find him.
The district police, though, acknowledged that his vehicle’s last GPS location was the site of the landslide, reported The Indian Express.
The driver, identified as Arjun Mooladikuzhiyil from Kozhikode, was driving a Benz lorry with the registration number KA-15-A-7427. The vehicle too has not been located.
The landslide on July 16, which occurred at Shirur village under Ankola police station limits, damaged houses and pushed trucks and vehicles into the flooded Gangavali river that flows beside the highway.
Eight bodies were recovered from the site, reported The Indian Express.
“As a result of the landslide, mud from the national highway slid towards Gangavali river and buried lorries, gas tankers, vehicles and the house-hotel of a local,” district police said.
Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Wednesday that a truck has been spotted in the Gangavali river.
“Once the truck is definitively identified in the water, naval deep divers will attempt anchoring it,” he said.
“The long arm boomer excavator will be used to dredge the river. The Coast Guard will do a helicopter search for missing bodies in the water.”
In recent days, equipment such as ground penetrating radar and metal detectors have been employed. A 40-member army team from Belagavi has also arrived to assist with rescue operations.
The navy, which is also assisting, said that the truck Mr Arjun was driving did not fall into the river.
Press Trust of India reported that the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Fire and Emergency Services and the Navy are continuing operations at the site and in the Gangavali river. “Search operations are underway to trace three more people, including the lorry driver from Kerala,” Superintendent of Police (Karwar) Narayana M told PTI.
Satellite images from the Indian Space Research Organisation on the day of the landslide shows a truck might have been pushed into the river, reported PTI.
According to the authorities, heavy rain and harsh terrain are hampering search operations. But Mr Arjun’s relatives expressed dissatisfaction with the efforts and have sought the intervention of the Army.
Mr Arjun’s sister Abhirami said the family has reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with a request to speed up the search operation.
Angered by the delay in rescuing Mr Arjun, people from Kerala have flooded Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s social media accounts with comments against his government’s “inefficiency”, reported Kerala Kaumudi.
They posted “SaveArjun” and “ShameKarnatakaGovernment” when Mr Siddaramaiah published photos of him visiting the site.
The chief minister, in a Facebook post, denied allegations of delay in search operations and said strong action will be taken if it is found that unscientific construction of the road led to the mishap.
Mr Siddaramaiah said both Army and the Navy have been requested to scan nearby rivers.
“After the rescue operation is completed, we will look into the matter and if anyone is wrong, action will surely be taken against them,” Mr Siddaramaiah said.
