Uttara Kannada landslip: Search operations continue; Kerala CM writes to Siddaramaiah to expedite search for missing trucker

Bengaluru/Thiruvananthapuram: Search operations are continuing in Shirur village in Karnataka's Uttara Kannada district to trace a lorry driver from Kerala who is feared missing after a massive landslide, police said on Friday.

Six bodies have been recovered after the incident on July 16.

"Karnataka Police is doing all the possible ways to remove the debris but continuous rains are hampering operations. But we are hopeful that we will be able to locate (those feared missing). We are with the family (Arjun's). We will do whatever possible ways to trace out the lorry," Superintendent of Police (Karwar), Narayana M, told PTI.

Kerala urges Karnataka to expedite search for Malayali missing

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah to  expedite the search and rescue operations at the landslide hit Ankola in Uttara Kannada.

In a letter sent to Siddaramaiah, the Kerala chief minister suggested that considering the urgency of the situation it would be beneficial to deploy ground penetrating radar to locate vehicles that might be buried under the debris of the July 16 landslide.

A truck driver, Arjun hailing from Kozhikode in Kerala, is missing after the disaster. From the GPS system of the truck, it was assumed that the truck was buried under the debris. Arjun's family said that his mobile phone was ringing even till Friday morning. 

The truck owner Manaf said that he became suspicious about the mishap as the GPS location of the vehicle remained unchanged at Ankola area for a long time on Tuesday. Later he came to know about the landslide. The driver's cabin is air-conditioned and well covered. Hence there could be a chance that the landslide debris did not enter the cabin, he told a section of media.

Congress leaders from Kerala, including opposition leader V D Satheesan and Congress MP from Kozhikode M K Raghavan, had also taken up the matter with Karnataka Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Vehicular traffic has been temporarily suspended on National Highway 66 following the landslide.

(With PTI Inputs)