Sanitation Worker Goes Missing In Amayizhanjan Canal in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, Rescue Underway

Thiruvananthapuram: A sanitation worker reportedly went missing in the Amayizhanjan canal located in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram District prompting the district administration to launch a rescue operation to trace him. According to the information, the sanitation worker, who went missing in the Amayizhanjan canal in the morning at Thampanoor, couldn’t be traced even nine hours after the rescue efforts began. The district officials stated that with the accumulated waste and incessant rains, the rescue efforts are being hampered.

A senior official stated that the missing worker has been identified as Joy (42), a resident from Kerala’s Marayamuttom. It is being said that efforts continued throughout the night to locate and rescue a worker reportedly trapped in the Amayizhanjan canal.

Robots Deployed For Inspection During Rescue Operation

Confirming the incident, Thiruvananthapuram District Collector (DM) Geromic George said, "The rescue operation is ongoing. We are trying to find the worker from both sides of the tunnel, simultaneously. We are trying to go inside the tunnel."

It is being said that fire and rescue service personnel as well as a scuba diving team and local people were involved in the tireless rescue efforts focussed near a narrow part of the canal close to the Central Railway Station.

Two robots from Zenrobotics, a Kerala-based startup, have been deployed for inspection. They were inserted into the manhole adjacent to the railway line near the canal. Equipped with cameras, the robots are tasked with removing pollutants and conducting inspections.

According to Railway sources, a group of workers have been involved in the work for the past 6 days to clean up the part of the drain that passes through railway property. After finishing the work on the Power House Road side, the workers had gone over to check the canal on the other side of the premises. As the rain intensified, the flow inside the canal increased, and Joy was reportedly caught up in it. Though the fellow workers attempted to rescue him initially with ropes, these efforts were not successful.

The fire and rescue services personnel, who arrived at the spot, had to first remove huge loads of plastic and other waste before they could venture further into the canal, slowing down the rescue efforts. Attempts were also made to tear down the grills that were fixed along the canals to prevent throwing of waste, to facilitate the movement of JCBs to remove the waste.

The Scuba diving team could not make much headway as the waste blocked their progress. The rescue team fanned out into various points of the canal to locate the missing person, but to no avail.