By IANS,
Hyderabad: All efforts went in vain to rescue a two-year-old toddler a day after he fell into 35-feet deep borewell at a hamlet in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh.
After 24 hours of effort, the rescuers found the child dead, dashing the hopes of his parents and people across the state who were praying for his safety.
Police said the rescue team found Dharavath Mahesh dead after digging a parallel pit and a hole to the borewell.
The toddler fell into the borewell at Chandrutanta hamlet in Polepally village of the district, about 90 km from Warangal town, Sunday evening.
A pall of gloom descended on the hamlet as the boy’s parents broke down on seeing his body.
A team from Singareni Collieries joined police and fire services personnel in the rescue operation, supervised by District Superintendent of Police Shahnawaz Qasim and District Collector N.Sridhar.
District revenue officials said the night vision camera lowered into the borewell late Sunday night captured pictures, indicating some movement.
A parallel pit was dug and ambulance service personnel were pumping oxygen into the hole. A team of doctors was also kept ready but in the end all the efforts proved futile.
The boy’s father Dharavath Ravi told police that the family was busy picking groundnuts in a field when the boy fell into the borewell, left uncovered after it failed to harvest any water.
This is the latest case of a child falling into an uncovered pit in the country.
A two-and-a-half-year-old child who fell into a borewell in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur district in December 2009 was rescued after over 13 hours of efforts.
In November, a five-year-old boy fell into a 250-300-feet deep borewell in Jagatpura village near Jaipur. The army rescued him after two days of operations.
In October 2008, the body of two-year-old Sonu, who fell into an open borewell in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra district, was recovered after 96 hours.
Five-year-old Prince, who fell into a 53-foot deep and 1.5 feet wide shaft in Shahbad, Haryana, in July 2006 was rescued after a two-day operations.