Thiruvananthapuram: Efforts to trace a 42-year old sanitation worker who went missing in a canal packed with garbage in Thiruvananthapuram city on Saturday forenoon remained futile till Sunday evening.
As the search operation by the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services personnel and 'Bandicoot' robotic manhole cleaner didn't yield result, the state government has also sought service of divers from the Navy. The incident also brought to light the lapses in garbage management in the city and also triggered a blame game between various government agencies.
The missing sanitation worker, Joy, is a native of Marayimuttam from the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram, who went missing near the tunnel stretch of the 'Aamaizhanjan' canal at Central railway station at Thampanoor in the heart of the city by around 11 am on Saturday while he was removing garbage from the canal along with other workers.
Officials suspect he is trapped in the tunnel passage beneath the railway tracks. The garbage, mainly plastic bottles and other plastic waste, has almost choked the flow through the canal.
Even as rescue personnel equipped with breathing apparatus ventured into the canal, they could not make much headway as the tunnel passage was jam packed with garbage. Efforts to wash out the garbage using high pressure pumps also did not yield any noticeable results. Hence the operation was put on hold by Sunday evening. Breaking the tunnel passage, one of the solutions suggested, could disrupt train services.
The city corporation authorities and the railway authorities were blaming each other for the lapses in cleaning the tunnel passage of the canal. Authorities said that it was due to the delay on the part of the railway personnel in cleaning the section of the canal beneath the railway tracks that resulted in the garbage accumulation.
The CPM-ruled city corporation was also accused by the Congress and BJP leaders for poor garbage management. Lapses in sanitation is also alleged to be a reason for the increasing number of communicable diseases across the state.
The Amaizhanjan canal that flows through the heart of the city is the major means for draining the rain water from the city. But despite repeated advisories and warnings, people and local shopkeepers dump garbage in the canal. The choking of the canal often leads to flooding of the city.
Widening of the tunnel passage beneath the railway tracks is also a long pending need that has been ignored. Lack of coordination between various government agencies is also alleged to be a reason for the bad condition of the canal.