Rat miners join rescue of toddler trapped in Rajasthan borewell
A three-year-old girl, Chetna, has been stuck for almost 70 hours in a 700-foot borewell in Rajasthan's Kotputli. The incident took place on December 23 when she was playing on her father's farm and accidentally fell into the borewell. Initial rescue attempts by her family resulted in Chetna slipping further down to a depth of 150 feet.
NDRF and SDRF teams lead rescue efforts
Currently, the rescue efforts are being led by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local administration. The NDRF team has dug a pit parallel to the borewell with a piling machine. "We are digging a pit using a piling machine," said Yogesh Kumar Meena, NDRF team leader. He added they faced an obstruction at 155 feet but have continued digging.
Rat hole miners join operation to rescue trapped toddler
Rat hole miners, who are experts in such rescues, have now joined the operation. They will dig a 7-foot-long tunnel manually to reach Chetna. This team had earlier helped rescue workers from the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand. The miners intend to pass through the 160-foot-deep pit dug parallel to the borewell and then manually excavate a 7-foot-long tunnel to extract Chetna.
Oxygen supply and monitoring for trapped toddler
On Tuesday, the NDRF team was able to pull Chetna up by 30 feet using clips. An oxygen pipe has been inserted into the borewell to provide air to Chetna, and cameras have been installed for monitoring. Ambulances are on standby at the site, and local authorities have secured the area to facilitate uninterrupted rescue operations.
