Worker missing while cleaning canal: CPI(M) RS MP asks rail minister to act against officials

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 14 (PTI) Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) leader A A Rahim on Sunday urged Union Railway Minister Aswini Vaishnaw to urgently act against his department's officials after a sanitation worker was swept away in a sudden gush of rainwater while cleaning a canal in Thiruvananthapuram.

Joy, 47, a temporary contract worker of the Railways, was swept away on Saturday morning while cleaning the Amayizhanchan Canal. He was under a 200-metre-long canal tunnel which runs under the tracks between the railway platforms at Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.

A search-and-rescue operation is continuing on Sunday to trace Joy.

In a letter, Rahim said the Railways failed badly in ensuring the necessary safety arrangements for workers who need to operate in harsh conditions. He said Joy's life was jeopardised due to the negligence of the railway authorities.

"Trivandrum Municipal Corporation has brought the matter related to Amayizhanchan Canal to the attention of the Railways but no significant action has been taken.

"Despite such an unprecedented incident, no senior official of the Railways has reached the spot, even as people's representatives, natives, and rescue teams have been searching (for the missing worker) day and night," Rahim said in his letter.

Rahim also alleged that there was no necessary cooperation from the railway officials for the rescue operation.

"Once the train runs on the tracks at the site of the incident in its current state, the rescue operation will not be possible. I have directly informed the officials about this but they are not taking any positive action," Rahim alleged.

The CPI(M) leader sought an impartial inquiry into the incident and on the Railways' lapses.

Joy and two other workers were engaged in cleaning the Thampanoor part of the canal near the railway station when water flow into it increased due to heavy rainfall, sweeping him away into a tunnel under the tracks at the railway station.

The search for Joy resumed this morning with the entire state machinery, including fire force personnel, its scuba-diving team, police, civic workers and NDRF personnel engaged in the operation.

The canal was filled with plastic and hard waste and the rains have been hampering the rescue operation, officials had said.

The temporary workers, including Joy, were employed by a contractor who had bagged a deal to clean the part of the canal that falls within Railways' territory. PTI RRT RRT ANE