Central team inspects Thiruvananthapuram canal after sanitation worker’s drowning

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 29 (ANI): A central team from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment inspected the Amayizhanjan Canal in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, where a sanitation worker recently drowned while cleaning garbage.

The inspection was led by M. Venkatesan, Chairman of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis. The team visited the spot in the Amayizhanjan Canal where 42-year-old Christopher Joy met with the fatal accident.

Thiruvananthapuram District Collector Anu Kumari and DCP Nidhin Raj, along with other officials, accompanied the team.

On July 15, Joy’s body was found after being missing in the drainage canal for 46 hours.

Joy was employed by a private agency contracted by the Railways to clean a section of the Amayizhanjan Canal, which passes through railway property under the tracks.

The waste accumulated in the canal over a long time hampered the rescue efforts.

The opposition protested against the ruling Left Democratic Front, which is also in power in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, over Joy’s death.

On July 20, Mahila Congress workers held a protest march to the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. During the demonstration, police used water cannons and detained the protesters.

On July 18, the BJP also held a protest march towards the corporation office over Joy’s death.

Personnel from the Fire Force, National Disaster Response Force, and the Indian Navy were engaged in the rescue operations. Scuba diving personnel were deployed into the tunnel and entered the manholes between the railway tracks to locate the worker, but due to the solid waste stuck in the canal, their movements were hindered. Additionally, a robot fitted with a camera was sent in, but the rescue operation was unsuccessful.

The Kerala Cabinet granted Rs 10 lakh as compensation from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to Christopher Joy’s mother on July 17.