The body of 42-year old sanitation worker Joy was recovered on Monday, 46 hours after he was swept away while cleaning Amayizhanchan canal in Thiruvananthapuram.
The body was spotted by a corporation sanitation worker from the canal stretch behind the Sree Chitra Home at Thakarapparambu, located around a kilometre from the spot where he went missing. It is believed that Joy’s body flowed through the canal and reached the spot during heavy rain.
Around 100 personnel from the state fire and rescue services and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have engaged in a massive rescue operation to trace Joy, who was caught in a tunnel section of the canal that flows underneath the Central Railway station.
However, the rescue operations could not make any headway for two days due to the huge pile of garbage that had accumulated in the tunnel. As there is no promising signal, the authorities have sought the services of the Navy also in the search and safety operations. Following this, six personnel from the Navy arrived on Sunday night to trace Joy. They had begun the search operation on Monday morning when reports came of the body being traced.
The Southern Railways had hired three workers, including Joy, to clean the canal near the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station. Joy got swept away at 11 am on Saturday in the waste-filled Amayizhanjan canal when he entered the canal, which passes through the railway property under the rails. Even though other workers accompanying him tried to give him a rope, he could not hold onto it. It is suspected that he got stuck in a garbage pile.
A resident of Marayimuttom near here, Joy is survived by his mother Melhi. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Opposition leader VD Satheeesan and other leaders expressed their condolences and grief over the demise of Joy.
In this connection, the Railways and the Thiruvananthapuram corporation are embroiled in a dispute over who is responsible for maintaining the canal.
Mayor Arya Rajendran asserted that the Railways is accountable for the culvert’s upkeep. In response, railway officials held that waste-management coordination falls within the corporation’s purview, while they ensure no solid waste from their premises enters the canal.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Monday assigned an amicus curiae to study the waste disposal on Amayizhanchan canal and file a report as soon as possible.
Terming the sanitary worker’s death unfortunate, Justice P Gopinath asked the amicus curiae to visit the accident spot. The state government, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and Railways should provide necessary help including travel facilities to the amicus curiae, the court said. The court asked the city Corporation and the railway authority to clean the canal completely.
The court will consider the matter again on July 26.