Kerala: Sanitation worker swept away in canal, rescue op completes 24 hours

A search and rescue operation in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala to trace a sanitation worker who was swept away in a canal while cleaning crossed 24 hours on Sunday.

Joy, a 47-year-old temporary cleaning worker, had gone missing on Saturday while cleaning a waste-filled part of the Amayizhanchan canal in Thampanoor near the Central Railway Station, reported PTI. Along with Joy, two others were involved in cleaning this part of the canal which passes through the city. The trio were cleaning the canal with increased water flow due to rain in the city.

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Joy, a contractual labourer from Marayamuttom was swept away while he was under a 200-metre-long canal tunnel which runs under the tracks at the railway station, reported PTI.

The search resumed on Sunday morning with the fire force personnel, a scuba team, police, civic workers and National Disaster Response Force men working on the rescue operation, reported PTI.

The rescue operation led by a 30-member NDRF team has crossed 24 hours, reported OnManorama.

A 15-member scuba team has inspected 60 metres of the tunnel as part of the mission, reported OnManorama.

A robotic camera had captured visual hinting the presence of human remains in the canal which was unable to be verified by the scuba divers, reported OnManorama.

Efforts are underway to remove waste which has piled and solidified in the canal, Director General of Kerala Fire and Rescue Department, K Padmakumar told news agency ANI.

Padmakumar said, "The entire area is under the railway land from track 1 to 4. There's a big network of canals inside and is decades old... Our scuba divers dived for about 60 metres but another 80 metres are left. They cannot move forward because that area has solidified over the years... This is a herculean task we are proceeding with. We went in from one end for 60 metres and now we will try to go in from the other end. Each inch forward is difficult because the area is covered with mud and sludge...," reported ANI.

Padmakumar pointed out there are side channels inside the tunnel which makes it necessary to analyse the map of the tunnel which is under the railway lines. The side channels have also collected waste, he told PTI.

A medical team is also deployed near the canal with oxygen and a basic life support system to aid the rescue operation. The health department has also decided to provide medicines including doxycycline to the rescue workers to prevent water-borne diseases including leptospirosis, reported PTI.

Kerala Labour Minister V Sivankutty and Mayor Arya Rajendran said that efforts are being made to trace the missing workers and discussions are being held with railway officials.

Sivankutty added, "One cannot stand near the canal for more than 15-20 minutes. The rescue workers need to clean themselves and take medicines at regular intervals. The fire and the rescue teams are working tirelessly fighting all odds."

Thiruvananthapuram Collector Geromic George is assigned the investigation and is required to file a report.

The contract to clean this part of the canal filled with plastic and hard waste was bagged by a contractor from the Railways. The contractor employed Joy, who is the lone breadwinner of his family for a sum of ₹1500, reported OnManorama.

(with inputs from news agencies)