THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As rescue workers geared up for the third straight day on Monday to locate missing sanitation worker Joy, his body was found nearly a kilometre away on another stretch of the canal in a partially decomposed state. This was a good 46 hours after the 42-year-old worker went missing at 11 am on Saturday in a tunnel section of the canal that flows underneath the Central Railway station here.
The body was found on the canal stretch behind the Sree Chitra Home at Thakarapparambu. It is learnt that Joy’s body might have flowed through the tunnel and reached the other side of the canal during heavy rain.
The six-member Navy team had started rescue operations early on Monday morning. But around 9.15 am, reports came in of a body being spotted in the canal. The body was first noticed by a few sanitation workers of the corporation who alerted a shopkeeper and Sreekanteswaram ward councillor P Rajendran.
“We were on duty clearing blocks caused by the rain when we noticed something floating in the water. As we removed the cloth covering it, we confirmed it was a body. We suspected it might be Joy’s and immediately informed corporation authorities,” said one of the sanitation workers.
Mayor Arya Rajendran, who arrived at the Medical College where the post-mortem examination was conducted, broke down and expressed regret that Joy could not be saved despite the best efforts. Parassala MLA C K Hareendran, in whose constituency Joy’s house is located, was also present.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his condolences over Joy’s death. He noted that the tragic death was deeply painful. Everything possible had been done to locate him, he noted.
After the procedures at the MCH, Joy’s body was taken to his home in Marayamuttom, where his funeral was held around 4 pm. The Mayor and MLA visited Joy’s home to console his mother.
Scuba divers of the state fire and rescue services and NDRF personnel had mounted a massive search operation since Saturday to trace Joy who was caught in a tunnel section of the canal that flows underneath the Central Railway station.
However, the rescue could not make any headway for two days due to the huge pile of garbage that had accumulated in the tunnel. After efforts of the rescuers went in vain, six Navy personnel arrived on Sunday night to trace Joy. They had begun the search on Monday when reports came of the body being traced.
Joy was part of a group of sanitation workers who were deployed by a private agency roped in by the railways to clean the canal stretch that flows underneath the railway station.
