Kerala: Body of sanitation worker who fell into canal pulled out after two days

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A body, believed to be that of a sanitation worker who had slipped into a drainage canal in Thiruvananthapuram on July 13, has been found after about 46 hours, officials said on Monday.

The body of the worker, N Joy (42) was spotted today at the canal stretch behind the Sree Chitra Home at Thakarapparambu and the police and municipality authorities were informed, the councilor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Rajendran said.

Two corporation sanitation workers, Rajeev and Manoj, confirmed that the body was that of Joy. “At 9.30 am today, we also went to search and were among the first to find the body. The dead body was found between Uppalamoodu and Thakarapparambu,” one of the workers said. “It seems the body was swept away due to yesterday’s heavy rain”, the sanitation worker said.

The body has been sent to the Government Medical College Hospital and an official confirmation is awaited. Amid heavy rains, Joy disappeared on July 13 while cleaning the drainage canal at Amayazhinchan Thodu in Thampanoor Thampanoor Central Railway Station premises and got swept into the canal that ran below the tracks of the platform at the station.

Personnel of the Fire Force, National Disaster Response Force and and Indian Navy were engaged in rescue operations. “A lot of waste is piled up in the canal. The corporation should take care to prevent such waste from accumulating again,” said Rajendran.

Scuba diving personnel were deployed into the tunnel and even entered the manholes between the railway tracks to locate the sanitation worker but solid waste stuck in the canal impeded their movements. A robot fitted with a camera was sent ino the tunnel on Sunday to see into the dark depths.

Scuba driver Vojin M, who was part of the Thiruvananthapuram unit, had said, “We are carrying out the rescue operations at the third platform right now. However, due to the excessive waste and very little water, it is impossible to dive deep inside the canal”.

He said on Sunday that they had also sent a machine with a camera to as pitch darkness inside the canal made it difficult to spot anything. “We had sent a machine with a camera earlier, but due to the darkness inside the canal, it is very difficult to dive deep and find the body”.

Rescue personnel on Sunday attempted to continue their efforts to trace the worker by entering the manholes located between the platforms inside the Railway station. “We entered the manhole after the robotic camera spotted an object but could not ascertain whether or not it was a body. We then went ahead of the camera and entered the manholes twice but due to huge bundles of garbage in sacks, polythenes and bags stuck in the canal we could not proceed. Also at certain points the level of water was not enough for us to dive so we had to pull out”. (ANI)