Over 68 hours on, 3-year-old still stuck in borewell; rat miners roped in

Jaipur, Dec 26, 2024-
Over 68 hours on, rescue efforts are underway to pull out a three-year-old girl who fell into a 700-foot-deep borewell in Rajasthan’s Kotputli-Behror district.

A 160-foot-deep pit was being dug to facilitate a tunnel that would enable rescuers to reach the child.

On Thursday at 6 a.m., another piling machine was pressed into service to expedite the process. Rescue teams aim to reach the target depth soon, after which a specialised team of “rat miners” from Uttarakhand will dig a horizontal tunnel toward the borewell, said officials.

District Collector Kalpana Agarwal inspected the rescue site late Wednesday night and discussed the ongoing operation with officials.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in-charge Yogesh Meena said: “A stone obstructed progress at 155 feet, necessitating a change in the piling machine’s bit. Digging resumed and has now reached 160 feet, with an additional 10 feet needed before horizontal manual digging can begin. This phase involves excavating an 8-9-foot tunnel to reach the borewell and rescue Chetna, with the possibility of completing the operation today.”

The rescue team has faced significant logistical challenges. The massive piling machine required several electricity poles to be removed, causing delays.

Chetna fell into the borewell while playing near her home in Badiyali ki Dhani of Kiratpur in Kotputli on Monday around 2 p.m. Early attempts to rescue her using improvised tools failed.

For the past two days, no movement has been detected on the camera monitoring Chetna. Her prolonged entrapment without food or water has sparked frustration and concern among her family and local villagers, who are growing increasingly anxious about the delay.

The district administration remains hopeful that Chetna will be lifted out soon as rescue teams near the final stages of their operation.

Meanwhile, the rat miners’ team leader remained confident about bringing out Chetna and said “We rescued the labourers of the Uttarakhand tunnel accident.”

The rat miners said they had been closely following the rescue operation on TV for the past two days.

“I reached out to the Kotputli administration, and shortly after that, SDM Brijesh Chaudhary contacted us and requested our assistance. We arrived in Kotputli at 8 a.m., ” he said on Thursday.(Agency)