Satwik Mujagond, a 15-month-old boy who had fallen into an abandoned borewell in Lachyan in Vijayapura district, was rescued after a 20-hour operation that involved co-ordinated efforts of multiple agencies.
The doctors have said that the child is healthy and well.
Satwik had fallen into the borewell, which was not capped, near his house on Wednesday at around 5.30 p.m.
Rescue operations began at around 7 p.m. with Police, Fire and Emergency Services, State Disaster Response Force and National Disaster Response Force teams pitching in.
The child was brought out by afternoon on Thursday.
The child and his mother were shifted to the District Hospital in Vijayapura after first aid at the Indi Taluk Hospital.
Doctors said that the boy is out of danger and that there is no damage to organs or external injuries.
Throughout the operation, uninterrupted oxygen supply was ensured through small tubes. They had also sent in an endoscopy camera that kept an eye on the child’s condition.
How it was done
The district administration began the standard rescue procedure of digging a hockey stick-shaped tunnel to reach the child that had slipped to a depth of about 17 ft.
“We started the rescue work and the SDRF and NDRF teams fine tuned the operations. It was a team effort. It was difficult, but we were able to complete it successfully,” said Deputy Commissioner T. Bhoobalan.
“The borewell was dry on top but there was some water at the bottom. It is fortunate that the child got stuck in the middle and did not fall to the bottom,” said a police officer.
He pointed out that it was a rare event as the victim was rescued alive. “In a similar situation in 2014, we lost a girl who had fallen into a borewell,” the officer said.
A senior officer involved in the effort said that once the depth was estimated, the dimensions of the trench were finalised.
“We estimated the distance using ropes and the camera images. It was around 16-17.5 ft. The parallel trench had to be deeper than that. We thought of digging up to 20 ft. However, it became increasingly difficult as we encountered basalt rock. We could go only up to 19 ft. Then, we began creating a horizontal tunnel to reach the pipeline. Well diggers used a set of different electric and manual tools to chip away the rock and enlarge the space around the pipe. The pipe was cut out at two places to see that the child could be easily reached. In the third attempt, the rescuers were able to reach the child and pull it out smoothly. High intensity lights were put up at the site to work at night. A temporary power line was laid to support the lights,” said the officer.
The motivation
“The video camera confirmed that the child was alive. He kept crying and it was motivating us to go ahead, albeit carefully,” said another officer, elated over the success of the operation.
Two rescuers reached the pipe through the horizontal tunnel. They spread a sheet across to ensure safe landing of the child.
Satwik’s father Satish Mujagond has thanked government agencies for the rescue operations. His father Shankarappa had commissioned the well. The boy had accidentally fallen into the 250 ft pipe that was encased into a borewell dug by his family for water. The pipe was open and the child fell into it accidentally. The cries of the child had alerted the family to what had happened.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Ministers M.B. Patil, Lakshmi Hebbalkar and Satish Jarkiholi have congratulated the rescue teams and the district administration authorities.
At the same time, they have asked farmers to manage borewells carefully, by keeping them closed when the pumpsets are not installed.
