More than a week after extensive search began for Arjun, a native of Kozhikode district, who went missing in a landslide in Karnataka’s Shirur, his lorry has been found in the Gangavali river. Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda had earlier confirmed that a lorry was found at the bottom of the river.
“One truck has been definitively located in the water and that the naval deep divers will attempt anchoring shortly. The long arm boomer excavator will be used to dredge the river. Advanced drone based Intelligent Underground Buried Object Detection system was also deployed for search. The Coast Guard will do a helicopter search for missing bodies in water,” the Minister informed on X.
Rescue operations are continuing to retrieve the truck that is on the bottom of the river. A rescue team of naval experts are at the location and officials have informed that the operation will continue into the night. The Navy and disaster management forces are utilizing sonar and radar technology to scour the affected area. Initially, the investigation employed Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), a geophysical method that uses radio waves to capture images beneath the Earth's surface. Additionally, four teams of experts from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Surathkal have arrived to assist in the search operation.
However, the weather conditions pose a severe challenge as it continues to rain heavily.
Arjun was driving a BharatBenz truck loaded with 40 tonnes of timber to Kozhikode from Belagavi and had stopped for tea on the Panvel-Kanyakumari NH-66 near Shirur when the landslide occurred on July 16. Multiple rescue teams have been searching for Arjun for almost a week in Shirur. The rescue efforts had slowed down due to continuous rain. Arjun’s family alleges that the Karnataka government is not doing enough to locate him, while officials maintain they are doing everything possible to retrieve his body.