Kochi: Forty six hours after going missing, the body of a cleaning worker Joy, 47, was found in a canal near Pazhavangadi in Thiruvananthapuram, media reports said.
He went missing while cleaning waste in Aamazhinjaan canal on July 13.
Joy was engaged by a contractor employed by the Railways to clear plastic waste filled canals of the railways.
Joy’s body has been identified by his kin and friends.
Joy was cleaning the waste clogged canal
with two others when a sudden flow of water pushed him into the 200-metre-long tunnel below the tracks of the platform at the central railway station.
A naval team from Kochi was about to commence search on Monday when the body was detected.
District Collector Geromic George supervised the search operations.
The two day search exposed the inefficiency and lack of accountability of the authorities and institutions including Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran.
The NDRF, the Fire and Rescue team, Police personnel, and the City Corporation searched on Saturday and Sunday but failed to find him.
While the Mayor blamed the railways, the authorities of the Railways pointed fingers at alleged lapses of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
The Mayor accused the Railway of releasing the wastewater into the canal instead of treating it in a sewage treatment plant.
She said the corporation would investigate if solid and human waste were released into the canal.
Blaming the ruling CPI(M) for poor administration, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan of the Congress accused the government of failing in pre-monsoon cleaning. The government should have interfered to resolve the dispute between the Corporation and the Railways, Satheesan said.
