Uttara Kannada landslip: Clearing rubble to take two days

Amid continued rainfall, the work on clearing the rubble that has blocked the National Highway 66 near Shirur in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district has continued and is likely to take another day or two for complete restoration of vehicular movement.

Amid continued rainfall, the work on clearing the rubble that has blocked the National Highway 66 near Shirur in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district has continued and is likely to take another day or two for complete restoration of vehicular movement.

In the wake of the red alert being sounded for the district by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the district administration has been declared for schools and colleges in the district on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the number of bodies recovered has risen to seven with another body being found on Thursday evening. The identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained.

According to the Deputy Commissioner of Uttar Kannada district Lakshmi Priya, who, along with various officials, visited the landslip site on Friday, although one side of the NH had been cleared, no permission had been given for traffic movement on the stretch. She clarified that the stretch would be opened for vehicular movement only after all the rubble was cleared. Amid continuous rains, efforts were on to make the national highway motorable, she said.

As on Friday, a total of 2,373 persons have been sheltered in 30 relief centres in the district.

The Superintendent of Police Narayan has said that the search for the truck and its driver Arjun was under way. While the GPS location of the vehicle had been traced at the site of the landslip, they were not being able to exactly locate the vehicle under the rubble. A bomb detection squad had also been pressed into service to detect the location of the vehicle and Navy personnel along with teams of NDRF, SDRF and fire brigade had searched Gangavali river for any possibility of the truck being pushed into the river, he said.

Inspector General of Police Amit Singh also visited the landslip site on Friday, reviewed the progress and gave necessary instructions to the officials on the remaining works to be carried out taking precautionary measures. ZP CEO Ishwar Kumar Kandu, Assistant Commissioner of Bhatkal Dr. Nayana and others were present.