The family of Arjun, a truck driver from Kerala who went missing under the landslide rubble in Karnataka’s Shirur village in Uttara Kannada district, has revived their hopes of finding him. This renewed hope comes after they learned that the engine of his vehicle was operational until the night of Thursday, July 18. The landslide occurred on July 16 due to incessant rainfall.
Arjun’s wife, Krishnapriya, told the media that she is hopeful he is alive since his phone was ringing on the morning of July 19. “His phone must be ringing when it gets range. Which means he may be in some place where he could be found,” she said.
“We have received information from Bharat Benz (the company that manufactures trucks and buses) that the engine of the vehicle was on till last night. If that is the case, there are chances of him surviving. The phone was switched on this morning when our cousin called him. But the rescue operation cannot be carried out with a limited number of teams. The Indian Army should be roped in,” said Arjun’s sister.
Arjun’s family also alleged that officials are focusing only on clearing the road. Speaking to the media, his relative Jithin said, “We requested several times to conduct a rescue operation at the place where the GPS shows the location. However, they are not taking any action on it.”
Manaf, the owner of the truck, said that the vehicle's location has been traced to the site of the landslide. “Officials here are not assisting properly. The vehicle’s GPS location is where the landslide happened, but the police suggest that the soil would have carried the truck into the river. We consulted with engineers, and they said if that is the case, the location will be shown in the river,” he added.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called for the urgent intervention of the State Chief Secretary. A press note said that Kerala officials are constantly in touch with the district collector and police superintendent.
Rescue operations are underway for the fourth consecutive day in Karnataka’s Shirur village, where a landslide has claimed the lives of at least seven people. Large quantities of mud have covered National Highway 66, located near the Gangavali river. Around 12 JCBs have been deployed to clear the soil from both sides of the road.
The mud from the landslide seeped into the river, leading to the formation of an island where authorities believe several victims are trapped. Due to the accumulation of sand in the river, water breached into Uluvare village, located on the other side of the river, causing severe destruction. Six homes have reportedly collapsed and 14 people have been injured.
“We don't know the exact number of people stuck under the rubble. We are going by the number of missing complaints. Ten such complaints have been filed so far, of which seven bodies have been recovered. Three are still missing: a lorry driver from Kerala, a tanker driver from Tamil Nadu, and a local resident,” said District Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya K. She added that the lorry could be beneath the soil or could have been washed away in the river.
A tea shop and an adjacent house located close to the river had collapsed on July 16, burying and washing away those who had gathered at the shop. The bodies of the tea shop owner Laxman Naik, his wife Shanthi Naik, their son Roshan, their daughter Avantika, two truck drivers, and one unidentified man have been retrieved so far. The truck drivers were identified as Murugan and Chinna, who hail from Tamil Nadu.