Rescue operations continue for a third day to save Chetna, a three-year-old girl who fell into a 700-foot-deep borewell in Rajasthan’s Kotputli-Behror district.
A 160-foot-deep pit is being dug to create a tunnel for rescuers to reach the child.
On Thursday morning, officials deployed an additional piling machine to accelerate the process.
Officials stated that rescue teams are working to reach the target depth, after which a specialized team of ‘rat miners’ from Uttarakhand will dig a horizontal tunnel toward the borewell.
District Collector Kalpana Agarwal visited the rescue site late Wednesday night to review the progress and discuss the operation with officials.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in-charge Yogesh Meena stated, “A stone obstructed progress at 155 feet, necessitating a change in the piling machine’s bit. Digging resumed and has now reached 160 feet, with an additional 10 feet needed before horizontal manual digging can begin. This phase involves excavating an 8-9-foot tunnel to reach the borewell and rescue Chetna, with the possibility of completing the operation today.”
Obstacles Faced During Rescue
Challenges have been significant, including delays caused by the removal of electricity poles to accommodate the large machinery.
Chetna fell into the borewell on Monday afternoon while playing near her home in Badiyali ki Dhani village. Initial rescue attempts with improvised tools were unsuccessful.
The monitoring camera has detected no movement since Tuesday, raising concerns about her condition after days without food or water.
The community, growing anxious over the delay, has been closely following the rescue.
The district administration remains optimistic about rescuing Chetna soon as teams approach the final stages of the operation.
However, the ‘rat miners’ remain optimistic, asserting, “We rescued the labourers of the Uttarakhand tunnel accident.”
The rat miners revealed that they had been keeping a close watch on the rescue operation on television for the last two days.
“I reached out to the Kotputli administration, and shortly after that, SDM Brijesh Chaudhary contacted us and requested our assistance. We arrived in Kotputli at 8 AM,” they mentioned.
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