NDRF to purchase borewell rescue tool from Madurai-based teacher

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is in the process of procuring an indigenous borewell rescue tool, also called borewell robot, developed by a Madurai-based teacher.

M. Manikandan, 44, an ITI-educated faculty at the electrical and plumbing department at TVS Community College in Madurai, developed th device to rescue people who inadverdently get trapped in borewells.

Manikandan runs a four-member Madurai Rescue Team for borewell rescue operations in Tamil Nadu. The four-feet-long device runs on battery-operated direct current motor and can stretch its arm up to 1,000 feet and lift a weight of around 50 kg.

"It can be lowered into the borewell through a rope and a pulley. I have also developed different types of mechanical arms to pull out trapped children, depending on their position in the borewell," said Manikandan.

According to Manikandan, the device costs Rs.60,000. "The Tamil Nadu government has purchased three such equipments from us. The NDRF has issued a quotation for the device and I am waiting for the order," he added.

NDRF Deputy Inspector General (DIG), operations, S.S. Guleria said: "We are in the process of procurinng the borewell rescue tool from the Madurai-based teacher."

NDRF Director General O.P. Singh on Wednesday said the NDRF is making extra efforts to develop its expertise in borewell rescue operations.

"In states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, we have responded on a very small scale to borewell rescues. In most cases, we succeeded in rescuing children from borewells though we do not have expertise. We contacted scientists and experts to know about ways to rescue people and equipment needed for such rescue operations," Singh said.

The NDRF has so far rescued seven people from borewells - one in Tamil Nadu, one in Maharashtra, four in Gujarat and one in Punjab.