Rescue efforts hit 'rocky' obstacle

Team encounters setback; doctors remain tight-lipped about Kanchans chances

The child  is believed to be stuck at a depth of 50-55 feet below the ground. The rescue operation of the team, digging a trench around the borewell, has been hampered due to the hard rock which they have encountered.

A driller has been pressed into service to break the rock, and rescue operations are expected to pick up pace after a soft layer of soil is reached. The rescue team’s biggest obstacle is the danger involved in blasting the rock.

Two teams of expert soldiers, one of the Maratha Regiment of Belgaum and the other from the Indian Army (from Secunderabad), had reached the place. Some eyewitnesses said that the teams had finally decided to blast the rock, taking care not to affect the borewell in which the child was stuck.

The entire district administration had been camping at the site of the incident. Sources close to the officers informed Deccan Herald that rescue operations might go  on till Wednesday afternoon.

No movements

Doctors present at the site were tight-lipped about the child’s chances of survival. Oxygen tubes were let into the well to help the child to breathe. Pictures taken with the help of a pen camera and a hidden camera show the hands of the child. The entire body appears to have been buried into the wet soil of the bore well. No movements were noticed since Monday afternoon.

Though it has been more than a day since the child fell into the borewell, not a single MLA has visited the site. Only a few ZP members of the area had been supervising rescue operations and helping the district administration. District officials said that the district in-charge minister was kept informed about the progress of the rescue operations. It is learnt that minister Govind Karjol had instructed officials  not to leave any stone unturned to rescue the child from the well.