Efforts are ongoing to rescue 3-year-old Chetna, who fell into a 700-foot borewell in Rajasthan’s Kotputli nearly 70 hours ago. The child has been stuck in the borewell since Monday afternoon, prompting a large-scale operation to save her. To accelerate the rescue, a team of rat hole miners arrived at the site last night. They will navigate a 160-foot-deep pit dug parallel to the borewell and manually excavate a 7-foot-long horizontal tunnel to reach the child.
Chetna was playing on her father’s farm when she accidentally slipped into the borewell, becoming trapped 150 feet below. Initially, she fell to a depth of 15 feet, but attempts by her family to pull her out inadvertently caused her to slip further down.
The rescue mission involves teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local authorities. The NDRF team has already dug a 160-foot-deep pit as part of their efforts to reach the girl.
“We are using a piling machine to dig a pit. At 155 feet, we encountered a stone obstruction, requiring us to switch to a wider piling machine. We have now reached 160 feet and need to dig 10 more feet. A horizontal tunnel will be manually excavated next. We are hopeful to complete the rescue today,” said Yogesh Kumar Meena, NDRF team leader, during a media briefing.
The team of rat hole miners assisting in the operation had previously played a crucial role in rescuing 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand.
On Tuesday, the NDRF team managed to pull Chetna up by 30 feet using clips. An oxygen supply pipe has been inserted into the borewell to ensure she receives air, and cameras have been deployed to monitor her condition. Ambulances are on standby at the site, while local authorities have sealed off the area to facilitate uninterrupted rescue efforts.
