Kerala governor meets family of sanitation worker who died after falling into canal

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 16 (ANI): Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Tuesday visited and met the family of a sanitation worker who lost his life after he went missing while cleaning a canal.

Governor Khan also consoled the family of N Joy during his visit.

Officials said on Monday that a body believed to be that of a sanitation worker, who had slipped into a drainage canal in Thiruvananthapuram on July 13 has been found after about 46 hours.

The body of the worker, N Joy, 42 was spotted at the canal stretch behind the Sree Chitra Home at Thakarapparambu and informed police and municipality authorities, the Councilor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Rajendran said.

Amid heavy rains, Joy disappeared on July 13 Saturday while cleaning the drainage canal at Amayazhinchan Thodu in Thampanoor Central Railway Station premises and got swept into the canal that ran below the tracks of the platform at the station.

Personnel of the Fire Force, National Disaster Response Force and and Indian Navy were engaged in rescue operations.

Scuba diving personnel were deployed into the tunnel and even entered the manholes between the railway tracks to locate the sanitation worker but solid waste stuck in the canal impeded their movements.

A robot fitted with a camera was sent ino the tunnel on Sunday to see into the dark depths.

Scuba driver Vojin M who was part of the Thiruvananthapuram unit said, “We are carrying out the rescue operations at the third platform right now. However, due to the excessive waste and very little water, it is impossible to dive deep inside the canal.”

He further said that they had also sent a machine with a camera to as pitch darkness inside the canal made it difficult to spot anything. “We had sent a machine with a camera earlier, but due to the darkness inside the canal, it is very difficult to dive deep and find the body.”