For the past six days multiple rescue teams have been trying to locate Arjun, a truck driver from Kerala, who is believed to be trapped along with his vehicle under tonnes of landslide debris in Shirur in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. Rescue operations have been slow, impeded by a steady downpour and the massive amount of debris that entombed people and heavy duty vehicles. Arjun’s family has alleged that Karnataka isn’t doing enough to find him.
Officials say they are doing everything that they can under the circumstances. Multiple earth movers and trucks are working round the clock on both ends of the landslide to clear the debris. A Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) too has been put to use, after the BharatBenz truck driven by Arjun gave GPS signals. GPR is a geophysical locating method that uses radio waves to capture images below the surface of the ground. Arjun’s family reported that his phone rang as late as Friday, July 19, which gave them hope. The Army would soon begin to assist the search operations according to media reports.
Arjun was driving a BharatBenz truck loaded with around 40 tonnes of timber on its way to Kozhikode from Belagavi. He had apparently stopped at a wayside eatery on the Panvel-Kanyakumari NH-66 near Shirur for tea when the mishap occurred on July 16. The stretch of highway is sandwiched between hills and the Gangavali river. Locals say that while landslides are common, the extent of the current one isn’t. The landslide covered around 300 metres of the highway, sweeping away a tea shop and at least seven people. The bodies of two people were found near the sea after being swept away by the mud and into the river.
Teams from the national and state disaster response forces, fire services have been carrying out rescue operations.
Disaster response teams have cleared the side of the highway which abuts the river, but the other side — where Arjun’s lorry is believed to be — remains buried under mud.
Locals say that the district administration has been slow to clear the side abutting the hill which caved as they fear the steady downpour may cause the hill to collapse further. Although one side of the highway is clear, the district administration has not allowed vehicle movement.
A team of four experts from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Suratkal, Dakshina Kannada district, have been roped in to locate the truck by using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
One of the team members told TNM that they had already searched the area around the last-known location of the truck. BharatBenz trucks have a feature that allows customers to check vital vehicle information including vehicle location using a software. The information would be available on all ignition cycles.
The team searched in a 30-metre radius around the last-known location, but could not find anything. “On Saturday, we searched another location given to us by the NDRF, and we did find some traces of metal. The NDRF started excavating in that area,” the team member said.
A team member from NIT said that they were using a Ground Penetrating Radar machine which works best when the soil is dry and uniform, and when they know the geological conditions below the ground. “But in this case, we don’t know what is below the ground. The soil too is not uniform. Red soil, clay soil, and mud with iron content is all mixed up with water. There is rock too,” the expert said.
All these conditions affect the ability of the machine to detect metal accurately, he said. The machine can detect metal up to a depth of four metres in ideal conditions, but presently, if there is a large rock two metres below the mud, signals would not penetrate that. “Due to these conditions, we don’t know how accurately the machine is working right now, but we’re still trying to do what we can.”
He said that since the machine has to be connected to a laptop, they can use it only in light rain with umbrellas, but in heavy rain, the machine cannot be used.
Rescue work was hampered by intermittent heavy rain and threat of further landslides. Even those operating the GPR had to be lowered over the spot using a harness and crane because of the threat perception.
"What's happening here is a drama. Rescue work happens only when ministers, officials and the district collector are here. Once they leave they will stop. They made us pose with them where the last GPS location showed and took photographs," alleged Prasad, a relative of Arjun while speaking to TV channels.
Arjun's sister also blamed the authorities for delaying their decision to seek the army's help. "This is what they have been saying for the past five days. They will keep blaming the weather and the huge amount of debris. Nothing will happen without the army. But the army cannot be here unless they get an invite. Why are they not being called?" Arjun's sister Anju told media persons.