TIRUCHY: While the tragic death of Sujith Wilson inside a borewell triggered several administrative changes across various departments, the stakeholders, including the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS), continue to grapple without a comprehensive rescue method to rescue trapped persons without delay. The State government agencies have not yet procured any state-of-the-art equipment or devised better plans to undertake borewell rescue attempts, even a year after the mishap at Nadukattupatti shook the State’s conscience.
Speaking to Express, Director General of Police, TNFRS, C Sylendra Babu says several measures have been implemented since the incident. “The TNFRS is now equipped with location finders and compact oxygen cylinders, which help in stabilising the trapped person’s position and make sure they have continuous oxygen supply. Apart from this, we are also providing special training to fire commanders in each zone who can immediately arrive at the spot and involve themselves in rescue operations without any delay,” he adds.
However, the TNFRS only on August 28 this year released an open-tender seeking 20 borewell rescue equipment. According to sources, the specifications for the equipment were listed out by the department after consultation with experts attached to the IIT-Madras. Further procurement process is underway. A major issue that came to light during the rescue operations at Nadukattupatti was the lack of a standard-operation procedure (SOP) for borewell rescue attempts with the TNFRS. While the department is yet to publish any SOP for public, officials say a procedure is available in training manual for the personnel.
On the other hand, thousands of defunct or abandoned borewells were closed during a State government drive in the last one year. Officials, however, raise doubts over defunct borewells that have not been registered in private lands. According to data available with the Tiruchy district administration, a total of 30,765 borewells were verified across the district and 5,118 of them were closed. All registered borewells were checked in a widespread drive, says Tiruchy Collector S Sivarasu Tiruchy.
“The drive is still underway as even now we spot borewells sunk in private lands without permission. We will also continue our awareness programmes on the issue.” Meanwhile, several private players who brought their own equipment to rescue Sujith have also modified their devices to tackle challenges. Tiruchy native Daniel who tried the rope-knot method has created a new gripper which he hopes will help in moving the trapped child’s hand upwards.
“Though a year has passed, not much change has happened. I have altered my device based on certain challenges we faced then. Inventions are happening every other day but introducing the equipment in the narrow hole in which a human is gasping for air is just too complex. A project should be initiated to create a device welcoming expertise from scientists, doctors and rescue officials across the world,” says Daniel. Coimbatore native Sridhar who attempted the hand like-gripper rescue has added a suction mechanism to the device to blow out sand which fall on the person.