BAGALKOT: A day after halting the operation to rescue six-year-old Thimmanna, trapped in an open borewell in Sulikeri near Bagalkot, the district administration on Sunday decided to use air compressor technology to retrieve the boy’s body. Thimmanna has been trapped in the borewell for eight days.
Deputy Commissioner P A Meghannavar said a three-member team led by Doddarangaiah, Engineer of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Tumkur sub-division, will supervise the operation. Fire brigade personnel will assist him. Meghannavar said arrangements were underway since Saturday evening.
Meghannavar said casing pipes will first be lowered and pressed into the soil and then pressure will be applied to try and lift the body. However, this technique cannot be used if the person stuck in the borewell is alive, he said.
“As the soil down there is very soft, the land may crack. There is a possibility of a landslide too. We have to take proper care during the operation and also while levelling the field,” Meghannavar said.
Meanwhile, the operation was delayed for an hour on Sunday afternoon due to heavy rain in the area. Vehicular traffic was also affected.
On Saturday, an all-party meeting was held at the district administration complex in Navanagar. Those present, including Thimmanna’s father Hanamant Hatti and members of the rescue teams, felt that there was no point in continuing the digging, which would only ruin Hanamant’s sugarcane field.
“We are going to lift the boy’s body using another technology. However, digging of the tunnel was stopped on Saturday,” Minister Patil told reporters on Sunday in Sulikeri.
He said the field would be levelled with mud for the boy’s father to restart cultivation. It may take about five to six days. He said members of the National Disaster Response Force and Hutti Gold Mines have returned. He hoped the operation would be wrapped up by Sunday night.