Nemom (Thiruvananthapuram): A 33-year-old man who recently staged a dramatic protest armed with a gun and locked up the Mini Civil Station at Venganoor for many hours demanding a solution for the water shortage in Venganoor got trapped in the currents in the same irrigation canal in which water was let into by the authorities.

Murugan of Charuvuvila House at Venganoor got trapped in the waters while he was cleaning up the irrigation canal which was filled with garbage. He escaped by clinging to a rope hung into the canal by the local residents.

The incident happened on Thursday, around 9.30 in the morning, in the 20-foot deep Neyyar irrigation canal alongside the Pallichal–Punnamoodu Raod. His father Ashokan (64) and a few other locals had joined Murugan to help clean up the canal.

He got trapped in the onrush of water as it flooded the subway where he stood to pull out the garbage and waste materials from the canal.

Murugan, who clung on to the creepers along the canal, finally climbed up to safety after the locals hung a rope into the canal to rescue him. Murugan, who was very weak thereafter, was taken to the Medical College Hospital in an ambulance by the Fire and safety personnel who reached from Vizhinjam. He returned home by afternoon.

Armed with an airgun, Murugan had locked up the gate of the Mini Civil station in Venganoor on February 21 for about an hour demanding a solution for the water scarcity in Venganoor. Then, Murugan had stated that he had to stage the dramatic protest after repeated complaints about severe water scarcity fell on deaf ears.

Following Murugan’s protest, Irrigation Department officials held a meeting and decided to let out water from the Neyyar Dam into the irrigation canal.