Dredger reaches Gangavali river, search for Arjun to resume today

Kozhikode: The search for Kozhikode native truck driver Arjun, who went missing in the Gangavali river following a landside at Shirur in Karnataka on July 16, is set to resume on Friday with a dredger brought from Goa entering the river and expected to reach the spot where Arjun's truck is submerged.
The dredger which started off from Karvar on Wednesday night reached the estuary of Gangavali river around 10am on Thursday.Its operators waited till afternoon for low tide so that the dredger could be moved beneath the Gangavali bridge. It was taken upstream and beyond the bridge at 4.15pm.
Meanwhile, a Navy team examined the riverbed using sonar scanners at the spot where the truck is believed to be buried under mud and landslide debris.
Sources said that if weather is favourable, the dredger would be moored at the place where the truck is believed to be submerged and would start removing debris including remains of trees which have piled up on the spot to enable divers to carry out search.
Three people including Arjun who went missing in the landslide are yet to be found. Arjun's family last week met Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, who promised them that dredger would be brought in for the search. Karnataka govt will bear all expenses.
Though Navy divers and local diving expert Ishwar Malpe had recovered a hydraulic jack and a portion of the rope used to tie timber to the truck during search on Aug 13 and 14, the operations could not be carried out further due to the presence of huge pile of mud and remains of trees in the riverbed.