Kozhikode/Bengaluru: In Shirur, a hill fell from a height of about 500 meters onto the road. At first, only three earthmoving machines were used to remove the soil in the 300 meter wide landslide area. Relatives of Malayali lorry driver Arjun, who went missing in a landslide in Ankola of Karnataka, contacted the Kumta Police and Karwar District Police, but were of the opinion that no such lorry was present there.

Arjun's brother-in-law and other relatives had to stand helplessly despite reaching the spot on July 17. Efforts were made on the part of the police and revenue authorities to restore traffic by removing the soil on the national highway.

The hill fell at 8:30 am on Tuesday morning. Soil fell over the roadside tea shop into the Gangavali River below. The district administration has confirmed that 10 people, including those who were in the tea shop, were affected by the disaster. The bodies of seven of them were recovered on Thursday. After Arjun's family came forward with a complaint, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan intervened and assigned Kozhikode Collector Snehil Kumar Singh to coordinate with the district administration in Uttara Kannada.

Arjun's brother-in-law Jithin said that the search was intensified on Friday afternoon after pressure and intervention from various quarters. The National Disaster Response Force, Fire Force, police and locals are now involved in the rescue operation, said Uttara Kannada District Superintendent of Police M Narayana.

Arjun's journey 
Kozhikode: Arjun started his journey on his lorry from his house at Kannadikkal on July 8. After loading stones from Kottakkal in Malappuram he left for Malavalli in Mysuru. From there he reached Kushalnagar and carried wooden logs straight to Belagavi. There the logs were unloaded and returned with a loaded lorry with acacia logs from the depot at Ramnagar, Belagavi. He reached Shirur, 200 km away, by Tuesday morning. Landslide occurred around 8.45 am. After that there is no information about Arjun.

Relatives still in hope
Wife Krishnapriya, father Preman, mother Sheela and all relatives are hoping that Arjun will return. "You just have to save him somehow. There is hope that something miraculous will happen," said sister Anju. 

Arjun has been working as a lorry driver for Manaf and Muneeb in Kinassery, Kozhikode for about eight years. He used to regularly go to Belagavi to load timber, Anju said, adding that he used to return after two weeks.

Brother Abhijit, brother in-law Jithin and cousin Nived have gone to the spot. Complaints were lodged with the police in Kerala and Karnataka, but initially no action was taken. When the relatives approached MP M K Raghavan’s office, they were assured that steps would be intensified. Later, they contacted the Chief Minister's Office. Anju said only after that the Karnataka authorities intervened.

Kerala intervenes for search operations
Thiruvananthapuram: Following the intervention by the Kerala Government, Karnataka authorities have intensified the search for Arjun. It was after the news of the accident came out on Friday morning that the Karnataka authorities confirmed that a Malayali was involved in the disaster.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called up Chief Secretary Dr V Venu who in turn contacted the collector and the superintendent of police to seek more information. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sent a letter to the Chief Minister of Karnataka asking him to speed up the rescue operation. Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan called Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and asked to intensify the rescue operation.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar contacted his Karnataka counterpart and also the Transport Commissioner. Motor Vehicle Department officials were also sent to the spot. Additional Transport Commissioner Pramoj Shankar has been assigned to collect the GPS information.