SHIRUR (UTTARA KANNADA): A 44-member team of the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment from Belagavi has been deputed to carry out the search and rescue operations at the landslide site at Shirur village in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district. They will look for missing persons, especially for Kasargod-based Arjun, amid the rubble. Arjun, a truck driver, was transporting timber from Jagalpet in Joida taluk when the area was hit by the landslide six days ago.
The Army personnel have been deployed after severe criticism by Kerala media over the slow-paced rescue operations at the site.
“The Army unit has arrived here. It was decided yesterday (Sunday). We have NDRF, SDRF and Army personnel working now. We hope there will be quicker results,” said a senior district administration official. Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya said there was a request from the Kerala government to expedite the rescue operations and the district administration decided to seek Army’s assistance. “We feel the truck could be buried under the debris. The Army unit will be here for four days,” she added.
Asked whether Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself called to expedite the process, she said, “The Kerala transport minister had called.”
The Army unit will search the Gangavalli River where the truck is suspected to be stuck. They will be helped by NDRF, ASDRF and district police.
SP Narayan said the Army unit is quite experienced in rescue operations. “This team is not ordinary. It has members who worked in Himachal Pradesh in rescue operations.”
Two more complaints over missing persons
“They (the Army unit) can track sonar signals and get expected results,” Narayan told TNIE.
The Army personnel started work soon after arriving at the spot and they have been divided into two teams to speed up the search operation.
In the meantime, two more complaints have been filed with the Ankola police over missing persons in the landslide and requests to search for them. One is Jagannath Naik, a resident of Shirur, and another is Lokesh Naik, again from Shirur. It is said Lokesh was having tea at the hotel owned by Lakshman Naik at the landslide site when he went missing.
Earlier, a complaint was filed by relatives of Arjun, a lorry driver, who is buried under the rubble. The complaint stated that he had stopped for a break near the hotel and he was inside his vehicle when the landslide struck. The relatives suspect that he could be alive and said his phone was ringing.
CM meets residents at landslide site
Shirur: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the landslide area at Shirur on Ankola-Kumta road in Uttara Kannada district on Sunday, spending more than an hour inspecting the damage and interacting with the locals. He directed the officials to provide relief to the needy