2-yr-old pulled out from borewell after over 20 hours in Karnataka

Belagavi After a 20-hour rescue operation, the emergency responders on Thursday were able to retrieve the two-year-old boy, who fell into a borewell in Lachayan village of Indi taluk in Vijayapura, according to officials.

People familiar to the matter said that emergency responders, including fire department personnel, local police, and teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), were invited by the police to rescue the child.

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. “The borewell digging agency failed to install the mandatory cap on the one dug to 359 feet, as it could not be reached. 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.

After Satvik was rescued, a senior fire brigade official said, “We provided him with essential medical care before transferring him to the government hospital at Indi for a thorough examination. He was later moved to the district hospital at Vijayapur for further observation as an inpatient for two days.”

Vijayapura Deputy Commissioner T Bhobalan who oversaw the operation, expressed their gratitude to all involved, particularly the field staff who worked tirelessly to ensure the child’s safe rescue. “The teams had lowered an oxygen pipe and an endoscopy camera into the pipeline. A trench was dug next to the borewell pipe and the child was slid into it through another horizontal trench connecting the two. It was difficult as we encountered a rock. But we succeeded ultimately,” he said.

SP Vijayapura Rishikesh Bhagwan said, “This was a challenging operation, but with collective effort, we succeeded in bringing Satvik to safety.”

According to the officials, the rescue operation involved the use of heavy machinery, including JCBs, Hitachi equipment, and tractors, to dig through approximately 20 feet of earth to reach the trapped child. Specialised cameras were deployed to monitor Satvik’s movements, while oxygen was supplied to sustain him during the ordeal.

They said, “The rescue teams had dug a trench reaching a depth of 20 feet adjacent to the borewell pipe. Another trench was excavated sideways to intersect the pipe. With precision, rescuers deployed a sheet, lowered it into the side trench using ropes, and widened the space around the pipe to create a pathway for safely transferring the child onto the sheet.”

As the rescue team closed in on the child, whose cries could be heard from the depths below, a rope was delicately fastened around the child’s leg, ensuring a controlled descent onto the waiting sheet, they added.

“The operation faced hurdles, including a large boulder that had to be manually broken to reach the boy. Despite the challenges, the rescuers remained determined, with a team of doctors on standby inside the tunnel to provide immediate medical assistance,” the above-mentioned fire brigade official added.

Satvik’s parents expressed profound relief and gratitude following his rescue. “This is like a second life for my son,” Satish said while acknowledging the rarity of such successful outcomes in similar incidents.