Missing sanitation worker yet to be traced; search continues in Kerala capital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A search and rescue operation is continuing on Sunday to trace a sanitation worker who was swept away in rainwater while cleaning the Amayizhanchan canal here a day ago.

Joy (47), a temporary cleaning worker, went missing while cleaning the waste-filled canal criss-crossing through the heart of the capital city on Saturday.

Joy and two other workers were engaged in cleaning the Thampanoor part of the canal near the railway station when the water flow increased due to heavy rainfall, sweeping him into a 200-metre-long tunnel below the tracks of the platform at the central railway station.

The search resumed this morning with the entire state machinery, including fire force personnel, its scuba-diving team, police, civic workers and NDRF personnel engaged in the operation.

According to official sources, efforts are on to remove the piles of waste and marsh accumulated in the canal to facilitate a search inside a manhole leading to the tunnel.

State Fire and Rescue Services head K Padmakumar said it appears that there are side channels inside the tunnel. "It's not a straight one. We are holding discussions analysing the map of the tunnel which is under the railway lines. There is a lot of waste accumulated in the side channels too," he told reporters on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister V Sivankutty and Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran said intense efforts are on to find the missing worker.

The minister also held discussions with railway officials in this regard.

"Our priority is to find Joy. The rest of the matter, including how the railway was handling the canal, will be dealt with later. The district collector has been entrusted with the task of investigating the incident and filing a report," he told reporters.

The state Health Department has deputed a special team of experts to provide medical aid to the rescue team. The medical team is at the site with ambulances carrying oxygen and basic life support systems.

"One cannot stand near the canal for more than 15-20 minutes (presumably due to the smell of the polluted water). The rescue workers (who enter the canal) need to clean themselves and take medicines at regular intervals. The fire-and-rescue teams are working tirelessly, fighting all odds," Sivankutty said.

The health department provided medicines, including the prophylactic Doxycycline, to the rescue workers to ensure that they do not contract water-borne diseases, including leptospirosis.

Later in the day, the state government sought the help of the Indian Navy to search for Joy as all efforts to find the missing person went in vain.

The navy personnel are expected to reach the state capital from Kochi and continue the search-and-rescue mission, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission on Sunday took a case on its own into the incident, based on media reports, and served a notice to the authorities in this regard.

KSHRC acting Chairperson and Judicial Member K Byjunath directed the district collector and the corporation secretary to submit a report within the next seven days.

Kerala High Court judge Justice Devan Ramachandran hailed the services of the fire force personnel engaged in the search mission and urged the authorities to ensure their safety.

In a letter sent to the Director General of Fire and Rescue Services, he said the selflessness of the personnel in the face of great adversity is incapable of being fully expressed in words.

"With bare protection and disregarding consequences on themselves, we see them wading and diving in the rancid and putrid waters," he said.

They are true heroes amid the hope of the hapless mother waiting for her son to return, he said in the letter.

The canal was filled with plastic and hard waste and the rains were hampering the rescue operation, officials had said.

The temporary workers, including Joy, were employed by a contractor who had bagged a deal to clean the part of the canal that falls within Railways' territory.