Arjun's truck lying upside down 15 feet deep in Gangavali River; mission to take out truck to start at 7 am

ANKOLA (UTTARA KANNADA): Arjun and his truck, which went missing after a landslide, are within reach in the depths of the Gangavali River. The truck is upside down in the river. Is Arjun in it? If so, what is his condition? These questions remain unanswered. Efforts will continue to get the truck out at 7am in the morning. An iron rope will be tied to the truck to bring it out.

As the mission reached its critical juncture yesterday, the weather took a turn for the worse. The truck could not be lifted out. Karnataka Revenue Minister Mankal Vaidya and the army confirmed at 3.30 pm that the truck was found at a depth of 15 feet on the banks of the Gangavali River, 20 meters away from the national highway, during the Navy's sonar inspection and the Army's radar inspection. The Uttara Kannada district administration conveyed this information to the Karnataka government.

The process of dredging the soil to a depth using a boom excavator was immediately started. More cranes were delivered. The NDRF team became alert. There was also a discussion to include the team from Kerala in the search mission. Navy's deep divers started a search. A drone-based eye-bod was used to inspect the soil deposits 20 and 30 meters into the river. Due to extreme weather conditions, this move could not be continued for long.

At 3:30 in the evening when the truck was found, there was heavy rain and storm in Shirur, similar to the one that occurred on the morning of the 14th when the landslide occurred. Incessant rain hampered the search. By five o'clock, fog and darkness spread over the place. Though Karwar MLA Satish Sail had said that a light system would be arranged to continue the search, the move was abandoned considering the risk of danger.

At six o'clock, the divers of the army and the navy stopped the search of the depths of the Ganges and came ashore. Excavators and official vehicles were withdrawn from the spot. When the landslide happened at the place where Lakshmanan's tea shop was located where Arjun stopped the truck, the truck was swept into the Gangavali River with the landslide. The latest information received is that the truck is lying at the same place along the national highway, where the signal was found earlier.