Karawara: A piece of wood of the lorry that went missing during a landslide in Shirur in Karnataka in July, was found in the Gangavali river during a search operation that was resumed on Friday.
During operation that was carried out in Gangavali river with the help of a dredging machine, a piece of wood and ropes were found, suggesting a submerged Benz lorry.
The dredging machine, brought from Goa's Panaji, was operated at a specific spot in the mud mound in the river. When the rope was pulled, a block of wood emerged from the water. This wood was found to be a part of the Benz lorry that had submerged into the river following the landslide on National Highway 66 near Shirur on July 16.
Nearly 11 people lost their lives in the incident but only eight bodies were found. Three locals, namely Jagannath Nayka, Lokesha Nayka and Kerala-based lorry driver Arjun, have not been found till now. The lorry too could not be found.
Notably, the Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams, drones and excavators conducted thorough searches. Although a team of drowning expert Ishwar Malpe of Udupi carried out the operations for two consecutive days, nobody was found. Thereafter, the search operation was temporarily suspended on July 28 due to heavy rains and rise in water level in Gangavali river.
On Friday, the operation was resumed after a gap of nearly two months. A dredging machine was brought from Goa and puja offered before it, After which, the soil was cleared and search operation was started. A total of Rs 90 lakh has been spent on this operation.
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