Ankola landslide: Rescue efforts suspended for 13th day due to strong currents | Shirur landslide

Shirur: The Uttara Kannada district administration on Sunday ordered temporary suspension of rescue efforts to search for three persons, including Arjun from Kozhikode, who went missing in a massive landslide in Ankola.

The rescue operation entered its 13th day on Sunday. Local underwater search expert Eshwar Malpe and his team of seven divers have been leading the rescue operation in the Gangavali river since Saturday. The search is being monitored by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Karnataka Police, Navy and Army.

In the visuals aired on Manorama News on Sunday morning, Malpe was seen venturing into the river in a fishing boat. Malpe said high tension wires from the fallen electricity pole were entangled with the logs of the truck. Roof panels of houses that collapsed in the landslide were also found buried in the riverbed. “All these are being removed as part of the search,” he added.

“The divers cannot see anything in the deep waters as the river is in flood. We are piercing the riverbed with iron rods to see if we find any metal objects. We want to use this method to confirm the presence of the truck,” said Malpe.

Manorama News reported that two members of Malpe’s team will dive into the deep waters to search at two locations discovered during the drone search. Malpe added that zero visibility was a major challenge for the search.

The Kerala government has asked the Karnataka government to continue the search until Arjun is found. Minister AK Saseendran told the media that the Karnataka government and the Dakshina Kannada district administration have taken all possible measures to intensify the search.

“Mud, stones and a big banyan tree lie over the truck submerged in the river. We will try our best to reach Arjun. Not only he, but two of our men are also missing. The daughter of one of the missing persons told us to find at least a piece of her father’s shirt. We are holding talks with various people to overcome the challenges in the search,” said Satish Krishna Sail, MP of Karwar.

Three days after the incident, the Uttara Kannada district administration confirmed on July 19 that the truck driven by a Kozhikode local was among the vehicles trapped in the Ankola landslide.

Arjun, a local of Kannadikkal in Kozhikode, went missing while driving the truck loaded with wood from Karnataka to Kerala. Two locals from Karnataka are also reported missing. So far, eight bodies have been recovered during the 13-day search.