Thrissur: A team from Kerala Agricultural University in Thrissur has departed for Shirur to help in the search operation for Kozhikode native Arjun who went missing in a landslide at Karnataka's ankola. The team will assess the viability of using the university's agro-dredge craft in the river. An operator of the dredging machine and an agricultural department official are among those heading to Shirur. They will evaluate if the machine can operate in the flow of the Gangavali River.

Following their assessments in Shirur, a final decision will be made regarding the transportation of the dredging machine. This machine, which operates on the water surface, was specially prepared by the Agricultural Research Center and Agricultural Mechanization Mission. The dredger, purchased by the agricultural department for the Kerala Agricultural University, is currently being used to clean the Elthuruth canal in Thrissur.

The search operation for Kozhikode native Arjun and two others, who went missing in a massive landslide at Shirur in Karnataka's Ankola, in Gangavali river was suspended due to the high currents. The team is currently exploring the scope of removing a sand bar, which formed on the river following the landslide, with the help of a dredging machine.

“The truck is trapped in the mire on the riverbed. It has a total weight of almost 25 tonnes, including the wood load. We need to create a cavity above the truck to be push the vehicle upwards with the help of exerted pressure,” Karwar MLA Satish Krishna Sail had said on Sunday.