Dredger fishes out parts of heavy vehicle at Shirur

The third phase of rescue operation with the help of a dredger to trace three persons who went missing after the landslide at Shirur in Uttara Kannada district, gave some positive results.

A rescue operation to trace three persons who went missing after July’s landslip at Shirur in Uttara Kannada district, gave some positive results on Saturday, with parts of a heavy vehicle being fished out from the Gangavali river.

The Uttara Kannada district administration resumed the rescue operation on Friday in coordination with the Navy, the Karwar port and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) personnel. The operation is to trace the three persons, namely Kerala lorry driver Arjun, Jagannath from Shiroor, and another person named Lokesh. They had gone missing after the landslip on July 16.

A dredger and a barge required for the operation arrived at Shirur in Ankola taluk on Friday and these were immediately pressed into service with the help of divers from the Navy, the SDRF, and the Uttara Kannada police.

The dredger was pressed into service at four locations identified by Navy divers and experts. On Saturday, another diving team from Malpe, led by Eshwar Malpe, joined the operation along with the Navy and the SDRF personnel.

According to Superintendent of Police of Uttara Kannada district M. Narayan, who is camping in the area, the search operations yielded two wheels, a steering wheel, and other parts belonging to a heavy vehicle. He said the parts fished out from the river pertained to a gas tanker and the search for the lorry from Kerala was under way.

The operation will resume on Sunday morning. The dredging is likely to continue for next eight days according to the district administration.

Published - September 22, 2024 07:09 am IST