NEW DELHI:The Kerala Fire and Rescue Department (KFRD) Director General, K. Padmakumar, provided updates on Sunday regarding the ongoing search for Joy, a 42-year-old municipal corporation cleaner who went missing in the Amayizhanjan canal near Thiruvananthapuram railway station.
The man, identified as Joy, a casual cleaning staff member for the city’s municipal corporation, was swept away by a sudden flow of water due to heavy rains while cleaning the garbage-filled canal, complicating the rescue efforts.
Padmakumar explained that the retrieval operation is hampered by the excessive garbage in the canal, which makes it hazardous for divers. “This entire area is under the railway line. There is a large network of old canals inside. Our scuba divers have dived 60 metres deep, but it is difficult to go further because it risks their lives,” he stated.
“There are still 80 metres left. It’s difficult to ask them to proceed because the area has solidified over the years. We entered from one end for 60 metres, and now we will try to enter from the other end. Each inch forward is challenging because the area is covered with mud and sludge. We assume the body is buried deep and are trying our best to recover it,” Padmakumar detailed further.
Vimal Govind, CEO of Genrobotic and Innovation, whose team is also participating in the search, highlighted the significant difficulties caused by drainage issues. “We have deployed a rover to search for the body. The fire and rescue teams are also conducting operations. Right now, there is a lot of waste in the drainage, making it difficult to clear,” he noted.
He added, “We expect the body to be somewhere close. The main challenge is clearing the garbage. We will have to retrieve the body manually. The NDRF and fire and rescue officials are conducting the search for the missing man.”
Despite extensive efforts, the scuba divers exited the tunnel without locating the body. The presence of solidified areas further intensifies the challenge as it makes it hazardous for divers to go beyond the current limits. Efforts are continuing to navigate through the sludge-filled terrain in hopes of recovering the missing man.
Joy’s disappearance has triggered a heavy deployment of resources, including scuba divers, fire rescue officials, and robots, all meticulously combing the tunnel in search of him. The operation’s progress remains optimistic, though hindered by the canal’s condition. Each step forward in the rescue operation faces obstacles from the mixture of hardened substances and accumulated waste, making it a painstaking and risky endeavor for the rescue teams involved.
