100 hours later, rescue operation to save 11-yr-old stuck in borewell continues

The boy fell into the unused 80-foot-deep borewell in the backyard of his house in Pihrid village in Malkharoda development block while playing at about 4 pm on Friday.

Rescue operations to save an eleven-year-old boy continued on Tuesday more than 100 hours after the child fell into an 80-foot deep borewell in Chhattisgarh’s Jangir-Champa district, officials said.

The district administration started digging a 70-feet pit parallel to the borewell on Friday evening and a 15-feet tunnel is also under construction to connect the pit with the borewell so that the child can be rescued. (SCREENGRAB.)

People involved in the rescue operations said the boy, Rahul Sahu, was breathing but was not showing movement inside the borewell. The government has created a green corridor to shift the child, who is differently-abled, to a Bilaspur hospital after he is rescued.

“On Tuesday, the child has not shown any movement except in the evening when he signalled for some food. A pipe has been installed for oxygen supply in the borewell. It will take another few hours, as the drilling of the tunnel is still going on,” Vijay Agarwal, Superintendent of Police, Jangir-Champa said.

The administration started digging a 70-feet pit parallel to the borewell on Friday evening and a 15-feet tunnel is also under construction to connect the pit with the borewell.

“The presence of dolomite stones hampered the work of digging a tunnel. The drilling of rocks has been going on since Monday evening,” said a senior official.

A team of healthcare personnel has made necessary arrangements at the spot to provide immediate medical aid to the child while an ambulance has also been stationed to shift the child to Apollo Hospital, Bilaspur.

The boy fell into the unused 80-foot-deep borewell in the backyard of his house in Pihrid village in Malkharoda development block while playing at about 4 pm on Friday.

The rescue teams, comprising over 500 personnel, including officials from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army, have been working continuously, using advanced machines and vehicles to evacuate the child safely, another official said. Nearly a dozen Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers are also deployed by the Chhattisgarh government in the village to overview the situation on the ground.

“Around 50 excavating machines including tractors, transporting trucks, and drilling machines are being used in the rescue operation for the last 80 hours. Senior officials from Raipur are supervising the operation and every attempt is being made to save the child,” said a senior IAS officer in Raipur.

“All our resources have been deployed for this mammoth operation under the directions of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. The CM has been monitoring the operation continuously and is taking hourly updates directly. Although the trapped child is differently-abled, his fearless spirit is helping the rescue workers to continue the difficult operation,” district collector Jitendra Shukla said.

The villagers have been praying so that the child is saved and most of them have been waiting around near the under-construction pit.