Karnataka: 2-year-old falls into 16-ft-deep borewell, rescue mission on

A two-year-old boy fell into an open borewell on Wednesday evening while playing near his home in Lachyana village of Indi taluk in Vijayapura district, the police said.

The incident happened when the child, Satvik, stumbled into the uncovered borewell while playing nearby. According to the police, the borewell was drilled on April 2 by his grandfather Shankarappa (65) on April 2 in the family far. It was, however, left uncovered after water did not flow through it. The well was dug up on four acres of land to provide irrigation to lemon and sugar cane crops, but it failed to yield water, the police stated.

Soon after the incident, the villagers informed the police calling to rescue the child. The local police Indi rural station, along with the fire personnel and taluk administrators, rushed to the scene to coordinate the rescue operations. The child, son of Satish (28) and Pooja (25), is believed to be trapped at a depth of 16 feet inside the borewell, the police said.

Vijayapura additional SP Shankar Marihal said, “According to experts, the boy was trapped at exactly 16 feet deep in the tube well. We have provided oxygen, two JCBs launched work to dig earth parallel, and the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) team from Gulbarga was also summoned. Heavy police security was deployed in the spot.”

No FIR has yet been filed, the police stated.

The authorities have deployed a significant police presence as a precautionary measure to manage the crowd and facilitate the rescue operation effectively.