Rescue efforts resumed Tuesday morning to save a worker trapped under rocks following a landslide at a quarry in Payyanamon near Konni, Pathanamthitta district, after operations were halted Monday evening due to fresh landslides and poor visibility. The incident, which occurred around 3:00 PM on Monday, claimed one life and left another worker trapped when a section of rock and soil collapsed onto a Hitachi excavator during quarrying work.
The workers, identified as Mahadev Pradhan, 51, from Odisha, and Ajay Kumar Rai, 38, from Bihar, were operating the excavator at the time. One body, believed to be Pradhan’s, was recovered late Monday, though formal identification is pending. Rai remains trapped, likely inside the excavator’s cabin, buried under large boulders. A 27-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, led by Commander Sanjay Singh Malsuni, arrived from Thiruvalla on Monday to assist, joined by Fire and Rescue Services and police.
On Tuesday, a four-member special rescue team descended using ropes to inspect the excavator, removing smaller rocks by hand to identify spots for hooking ropes to extract it. District Collector S. Prem Krishnan, overseeing the operation, reported ongoing small rockfalls, prompting a shift to mechanical methods. A 30-tonne crane from Karunagappally and a large Hitachi from Alappuzha are being deployed to remove rocks and pull out the excavator.
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The quarry, spanning 120 acres, faces scrutiny over safety standards, with allegations that its license expired on June 30, as per a complaint pending with the Konni panchayat. Environmental concerns also loom, with a 2020 study noting 5,924 stone quarries in Kerala, many operating illegally, particularly impacting the Western Ghats, including Pathanamthitta. Posts on X from @PTI_News and @manoramanews highlighted the challenging terrain and ongoing rockfall risks, with Konni MLA K.U. Janeesh Kumar noting prior local complaints about the quarry’s operations.
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