BHUBANESWAR: As rescuers were racing against time to save the life of the two-day-old newborn girl, who had mysteriously fallen into a bore-well pit at Laripali village in Sambalpur district on Tuesday afternoon, they faced a huge impediment - that of locating the exact spot where the baby was stuck.
They also needed to ascertain the status of the baby girl, and a virtual location camera was the most essential tool at that moment. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was constantly monitoring the situation since receiving the news, immediately stepped into action. As there was no such camera available nearby, he instructed the officials to make sure it was flown to Sambalpur within no time. A chartered flight was readied and the victim location camera was rushed to the site.
Informing this aspect of the successful rescue, DG Fire Services Sudhansu Sarangi said the operations got a massive boost and speed after the camera was put into action as the teams could zero in on the exact location of the baby. The strategic planning and execution enabled by the camera led to the safe rescue of the baby girl, he said.
“The baby was stuck at a depth of 13 feet and a plate was installed at a height of 15 feet so that the child does not fall deeper by using digging bars. Electric cutters were not utilised keeping in mind the safety of the child,” Sarangi said.
He said a victim location camera is very handy in such operations as it goes down up to 60 metre and provides photographs of the victims. The device was used to check on the baby girl and she was slowly pulled out with the help of a plate.
He also informed that the baby girl’s health condition is stable. Meanwhile, the state government has decided to equip at least five fire stations in different parts with advance rescue tenders having victim location cameras soon.The multi-functional emergency rescue vehicles can be used in major fire disasters, infrastructure collapses and other critical occurrences.
The rescue tenders will be deployed in Sambalpur, Rourkela, Rayagada, Berhampur and Balasore. Odisha Fire and Emergency Service’s Striking Force in three ranges - Sambalpur, Berhampur and Cuttack will be in-charge of the vehicles. As of now, only Bhubaneswar has one advance rescue tender and it was commissioned last year.
“The Odisha government has sanctioned funds to the department to procure at least five new advance rescue tenders. They will consist of sophisticated equipment like optical sensors, victim location cameras, plasma/hydraulic cutters, and others,” said a senior officer of Odisha Fire and Emergency Service.
The tender process has commenced and each advance rescue tender will be procured at a cost of at least Rs 4.5 crore. The department is also planning to procure other advanced equipment like robotic systems used in post-disaster search and rescue operations, remote-controlled lifebuoys to save victims from drowning, among others.