Ankola, KARNATAKA : On its 10th day, the search for Arjun – the trucker from Kerala’s Kozhikode and other landslide victims, enters a turning point today. Within marked boundaries beneath the surface, deep divers of the India Navy will go under water and is expected to haul out Arjun’s truck detected to be buried under the debris adjacent to the Gangavalli river.
Also aerial surveillance by Coast Guard helicopters will be conducted to look for Arjun and at least three others still missing. Eight bodies were recovered so far. Also, drone control centre set up on the river bank is carrying out additional aerial surveillance.
The search efforts are a joint operation by the district administration of the Uttara Kannada district and multiple agencies such as Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF and other departments. Sophisticated search equipment including long boom excavator, deep search metal detectors, ground penetrating radar, etc. have been pressed into service for what is the biggest search operation in recent past.
Meanwhile, heavy rains in the region continue to hamper operations. The search using Underground Buried Object Detection (BOD) system commenced at 11 am. Battery for iBoard from Delhi will be delivered at Shirur, where the disaster occurred, by Rajdhani Express. The iBoard comprises two giant drones with radar capable of mapping and detection on land and under water.
