Warangal, January 19: It was a 24-hour-long rescue operation that lakhs of people watched live on television, praying for its success. At stake was the life of twoyear- old Mahesh who fell into an open borewell while playing at Chandru thanda in Torrur mandal, Warangal district on Sunday evening.
Officials pooled in men and machinery from near and afar. In the end, rescue teams fished out the toddler’s body after a herculean effort this evening.
The State administration had drafted Mines Rescue Teams from the Singareni Collieries, took the support of a private security agency, which pressed into service its night vision equipment and the 108 Ambulance services, which pumped oxygen into the borewell.
But 24 hours without food and water and a breath of fresh air proved too much for the two-yearold.
What delayed the operations was the location of the borewell.
Chandru thanda on the outskirts of Polepally village in Torrur mandal.
It took considerable time to move high power JCBs and other equipment to the site.
Rescue teams drilled a parallel borewell, but the hard rock sheet hampered their efforts. It was initially estimated that it would take four hours to drill the parallel borewell, but it took about 24 hours. The borewell in which Mahesh fell is 35- ft deep and six-and-a-half inches in diameter. The tragedy is all the more painful since it was dug by none other than Mahesh’s parents on their own land.
In search of water for his crops, the boy’s father Dharavath Ravi dug four borewells. When all his attempts failed, he covered three borewells but left the fourth uncovered, a mistake he will rue forever.
–Agencies