Hoshiarpur: 6 yrs old falls into 85 feet deep borewell, rescue attempts fail

HOSHIARPUR: A six-year-old child who had fallen in a borewell in Khiala Balanda village of Hoshiarpur district was pulled out after over seven hours, but he had died by that time. While teams of NDRF, the Army and Military Engineering Service had reached there and started work, it was a local, Gurinder Singh, from district Sangrur who had pulled him out with his own innovative technique using pipes and ropes while other rescuers provided whatever support he required.
The boy had fallen around 10.30 am and was pulled out a little before 6 pm.
Child Ritik Roshan, whose parents Rajendra and Bimla work as farm labourers and originally hail from Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, fell in the borewell in the fields of the village after a dog chased him. Bimla said the child was playing when a dog chased him and he scaled the borewell pipe, which was covered at the top with a bag. However, as he stood on the pipe, he slipped down and was spotted by his sister. She said, "I then immediately informed the village sarpanch and soon the villagers reached here and started efforts to save the child." The pipe of the bore-well was around three feet above ground.
The administration was alerted and volunteers of Baba Deep Singh Sewa Dal led by Manjot Singh Talwandi from neighbouring village also rushed to the place after getting the news. They quickly arranged oxygen cylinders and hung one of these down in the bore-well. They first hung a camera and monitored it on a laptop in a vehicle nearby. This monitoring by them helped the official machinery and rescuers to make their assessment.
Hoshiarpur deputy commissioner Sandeep Hans, who also rushed to the spot along with other officials, said the footage of the camera reflected that the child was lying unconscious, which made the rescue more difficult and they requisitioned services of MES also. He said the borewell was said to be 85-100 feet deep.
Initially, digging near the borewell was also started with machines. Gurinder Singh, who was participating in CM Mann's cycle rally against drugs, rushed to the village after getting the news. He pleaded with the officials to give him a chance saying he had pulled out two-year-old Fatehveer from a 125 feet deep borewell in Bhagwanpur village of district Sangrur.
"I had asked the administration to give me a chance and had sought 25 minutes to pull out the child, but it took around an hour and half. The child was at 85 feet depth. I managed to pull him out after first managing to tie a rope to one of his wrists, but he was stuck at 35 feet depth. Then I had to use another rope to tie his second wrist also and then pulled him out. The child was stuck where nine inch pipe ended and seven inch pipe started," said Gurinder, who pulls out submersible machines from bore-wells and often has to innovate in different situations. The child was rushed to civil hospital Hoshiarpur, but doctors said child had died sometime back in the borewell.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann had earlier tweeted that he was in touch with the administration as rescue operation was on. Area MLA Jasvir Singh Raja Gill also rushed to the spot in the initial phase of rescue efforts and later minister Bram Parkash Jimpa also remained there throughout the rescue operation. Minister Jimpa said that government machinery made quick and best efforts but unluckily the child could not be saved. He announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the child's family.