india

Updated: Jun 07, 2019 10:29 IST

Rescuers on Friday dug a 60-feet parallel well to pull out a toddler, who fell into a 170-feet deep open borewell while playing in a village in Punjab’s Sangrur district on Thursday afternoon, officials said.

Personnel of the Indian Army were called in to assist National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) from Bathinda and local teams in Bhagwanpura in Sunam sub-division of the district. Fatheveer Singh, who will celebrate his second birthday on Monday, fell into the borewell 17 hours ago.

The boy’s family said the nine-inch open borewell has been lying open for the past seven years.

“He is the only child of his parents. His father and other family members were also near him when the mishap occurred,” Rohi Singh, the grandfather of the child, said.

“We are planning to celebrate his second birthday on June 10,” he said.

Officials of the police and civil administration along with residents began the rescue operation at around 4pm on Thursday soon after Fatheveer Singh fell. The NDRF team joined the efforts at 7pm. Officials said the borewell is around 170-feet deep and the boy is stuck at 110 feet.

“The boy is being provided oxygen and he has shown movement. The NDRF team has also started the rescue work,” Sunam sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Manjit Kaur had said earlier.

“We are employing two methods. One in which JCB and tractors have been used to dig a parallel borewell and in the other the NDRF team is trying to pull out the boy with the help of a rope,” Kaur said.

Aam Aadmi Party legislator and leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Lehra MLA Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Youth Congress leader Daman Thind Bajwa and other local leaders also gathered at the spot.

The latest incident has again brought to the fore the dangers of uncovered borewells as many have fallen to their deaths into them.

An 18-month-old boy was rescued from a borewell in Haryana after 48 hours in March this year. In 2006, a massive operation was launched to rescue five-year-old Prince, who had fallen into a borewell in a village in Kurukshetra. He was pulled out safely nearly 48 hours later.