CHANDIGARH: A four-year-old boy fell into a 220-foot-deep open borewell in Dhanaura village of Haryana's Ambala district on Tuesday morning, triggering a multi-agency rescue operation.
The child, identified as Nirbhay Singh, fell into the nine-inch-wide borewell at around 6.30 am while playing in a field. He had accompanied his father, Manjit Singh, to the fields, where his grandfather, Karnail Singh, had been working since early morning.
According to sources, Nirbhay noticed the open borewell and began dropping handfuls of soil into it. As he leaned over to look inside, he reportedly lost his balance on the wet and slippery ground and fell into the borewell.
Hearing the child's screams, his father and grandfather rushed to the spot and tried to rescue him, but the narrow opening made it impossible. The family then alerted the police through the 112 helpline at around 7.30 am.
Police informed the fire brigade, following which teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Army joined the rescue operation. A camera has been lowered into the borewell to monitor the child's condition.
Deputy Commissioner of Ambala Ajay Singh Tomar, who is monitoring the operation, said the child is trapped about 220 feet inside the borewell.
"The incident took place around 6.30 am today. A joint operation is being carried out to rescue the child and also heavy machinery of army is being pressed into the rescue efforts. Every effort is being made to rescue the child safely. If the initial rescue attempt is not successful, a parallel pit will be dug," he said.
"We can see him via camera, and he is stable besides supplies are being sent to him based on the situation, but our priority is to rescue him at the earliest," said Tomar.
Appealing to farmers to keep borewells covered, Tomar said children often visit fields and are at risk if borewells are left open.
He added that he had directed police to initiate action against the owner of the borewell.
"A piece of tile, a brick, concrete slab, or even a jute bag could have been enough to cover this 9-inch borewell. If the person had taken these precautions and covered the borewell, this situation would not have arisen," he said.
The incident recalls the July 21, 2006 case in neighbouring Kurukshetra district, when five-year-old Prince Kumar fell into a 60-foot-deep borewell and was rescued after a 50-hour operation, following which the Supreme Court issued guidelines for capping abandoned borewells.
