Truck drivers demand passage after being stranded for 8 days in landslide-affected Uttar Kannada
Jul 22, 2024
Uttar Kannada (Karnataka) [India], July 22 : After eight days of being stuck due to a road blockage in the Uttar Kannada region of Karanaraka, truck drivers staged a protest on Monday, demanding permission to leave the site after one side of the road was cleared.
Due to a massive landslide on the national highway 66, the road had been blocked near Shirur village in Ankola Taluk, which has caused a lot of distress to the truck drivers and travellers travelling through that route.
Restoration work is underway and one side of the route is clear but the police are still not letting the drivers go.
Drivers had been stranded in that place for eight days.
The church and care centres in the area had been providing food and water for the past eight days, a truck driver said.
"The government is not helping with food or water. The church and trustee people have been providing food for the last eight days," he said.
One truck driver also demanded to let go of their truck as the milk it had been carrying was getting spoiled.
On Tuesday, July 16, a massive landslide triggered by heavy rains in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka claimed the lives of 10 people.
The landslide occurred near Shirur village in Ankola Taluk on National Highway 66 and restoration work is still underway following this.
Earlier on Saturday, July 20, Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya said that seven bodies were recovered as rescue operations continued in the landslide-hit district in Karnataka. The Deputy Commissioner further added that the missing complaints of 10 people were received, out of which three were still missing.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Minister and JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy took stock of the situation where a landslide happened.
The Chief Minister also interacted with the SDRF and NDRF teams, which are undertaking the operations.
