Plan to bury boy who died in borewell put on hold

Govt promises to make family's land fit for farming again

 In a surprise development, the plan to bury the body of Thimmanna Hatti in the borewell into which he had fallen was put on hold on Saturday.

District In-charge Minister S R Patil said that a final decision on the last rites of Thimmanna Hatti, who fell into the bore­well at Sulikeri village in Badami taluk of the district last Sunday, would be taken after receiving a report from Advocate General Ravivarma
Kumar.

There were speculations that the six-year-old boy would be buried in the abandoned borewell. His family and relatives had prepared themselves for it and were making arrangements for the same. However, the scenario changed and the plan was dropped. It was not immediately known why the authorities decided to seek a legal opinion.  Patil told reporters after a meeting of all stakeholders that a decision has been taken to stop digging a tunnel to the borewell following an appeal by Thimmanna’s parents and local residents.

The minister said the criminal cases registered against Hanamappa Hatti, the boy’s father, the panchayat development officer, the gram panchayat president and vice-president have been withdrawn. Also, the order suspending the officials had been withdrawn.

He said the trenches dug up on Hanamappa’s land would be filled. They would even be topped with fertile soil to make the land fit for agriculture again. The government would provide a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the boy’s family for crop loss.

DC P A Meghannavar said at the meeting that all efforts were made to rescue the boy. But the depth to which he had slipped — 160 feet — made the operation difficult. He said there were technical hurdles in digging a tunnel to the borewell and the safety of workers too had to be kept in mind.

It is said that close to Rs 1 crore was spent on the entire operation. It includes the cost of digging the field, besides hiring the services of a farmer from Mandya and a robot expert from Madurai in Tamil Nadu.