Thiruvananthapuram | A worker went missing on Saturday morning in the Amayizhanchan canal in the heart of the state capital, police said.
A temporary contract worker, Joy, along with two others was cleaning the Thampanoor part of the canal when the water flow increased due to heavy rains.
"As the flow increased, we got out of the canal, but Joy couldn't," the co-workers said.
The canal is filled with plastic and hard waste, which makes the rescue operations difficult.
The workers were in the canal to remove the plastic waste.
The fire force, the police and a scuba diving team are trying their best to rescue the worker who was swept under a 200-metre-long canal tunnel which runs under the railway line inside the railway station.
"Now we need to clear the plastic and hard waste, otherwise we won't be able to go forward into the tunnel," a fire force official said.
The fire force officials have dismantled the fence alongside the canal to facilitate the excavators to clear the plastic waste.
The rescue operation is still continuing even after five hours.
Meanwhile, Minister V Sivankutty along with city Mayor Arya Rajendran visited the accident site and said the cleaning of the tunnel was the Railway's responsibility.
"The rescue effort is progressing," Sivankutty said.
The minister said whenever the corporation or the government said it was ready to clean the tunnel, the Railway refused to allow it.
"They (Railways) always took a stand that it was their property and that they would clean it. The full responsibility on the waste accumulation falls on the Railways," Sivankutty said.
Rajendran said other than a few engineers, none of the railway officials visited the place.
"Even though the tunnel does not come under our jurisdiction, we have decided to move forward with the rescue operation as we need to rescue the worker," Rajendran said.
Certain media houses have released documents related to a notice issued by the city corporation in June, asking the Railways to clean the tunnel within seven days.
