Minister for Public Works and Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas on (July 28) Sunday expressed strong protest over the Karnataka government’s decision to end the search and rescue operation for Arjun, the truck driver from Kozhikode who went missing along with his vehicle following a landslip at Shirur in Uttara Kannada on July 16.
Mr. Riyas described the decision as “unfortunate” as it was taken without any consultation with the Kerala government and alleged that the possibilities in rescue operations were not properly explored at Shirur. He called upon the Karnataka government to revoke its decision and seek the support of experienced Indian naval divers to resume the operation.
The minister made it clear that the Kerala government had no intention to trigger any controversy or proceed with a blame game on the issue. “We seek only humanitarian interventions. The demand of the State government is to implement all decisions taken at previous joint meetings held in the presence of Karnataka authorities,” he said.
Mr. Riyas who visited the spot along with Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran last week to hold talks with Karnataka authorities and check the progress of the rescue operation criticised that the Karnataka government could not make use of the support of a Rajasthan-based expert rescue team specialised in pontoon bridge constructions in rivers. He also alleged that there were no measures to bring tug boats or carry out dredging in some of the identified spots though there were decisions to do so.
The minister came up with his response soon after the expert divers’ team led by Ishwar Malpe called off the rescue mission in the Gangavali river citing hazardous situation. Malpe’s team had taken up the mission when all other options adopted by the Karnataka government had failed to work at the site.
