Daijiworld Media Network - Moodbidri

Moodbidri, June 2: Gururprasad Bhat (38), a farmer from Valpady village who had gone missing after falling into the water from a weakened slab while removing wooden planks from the Kindi barrage near Joggottu Paddyimajalu on May 30 evening, was found dead on June 1 around 3 pm near Shirthadi bridge.

Despite intensive search efforts using boats by the fire brigade and locals including Ganesh Gowda and Willy Pinto, they were initially unsuccessful.

Later, expert diver Eshwar Malpe and his team were brought in. On June 1 morning, they launched a fresh operation and successfully retrieved the body near Shirthadi Kaje, about 3 km downstream from the accident site.

Locals alleged that the barrage, built 45 years ago, had become severely weak due to substandard construction, including the lack of iron reinforcements in some areas, which likely caused the slab to collapse. They blamed the government’s lack of response to repeated demands for a new, safer barrage for the tragic loss of life and expressed strong outrage.