On Monday morning in Chhattisgarh’s Piharid village, all the villagers started with turning on their borewells and continuously running hand pumps – to draw water from a pit dug for a borewell. His purpose: to Rescued a 10-year-old boy who was stranded for more than 75 hours,
On Monday, over 200 people were at work, trying to reach Rahul, who has been trapped 62 feet underground since Friday. Their challenges range from groundwater levels, unstable rocks, snakes and scorpions hiding in crevices, and bad weather.
On Friday, when Piharid resident Lala Ram Sahu and wife Geeta Sahu returned home, they found their elder son Rahul missing. Rahul is deaf and dumb, and also has a developmental disability. After looking for a long time, he finally realized that he had fallen into the pit dug for the borewell. Sahu said that the pit was dug a few days ago and the mouth was left open due to not getting much water. “We dug up to 80 feet but there was very little water. When we dug another pit, I had planned to cover it,” said the worried father.
Sahu owns a small shop and plows the field behind his house, for which he needs water.
The rescue operation started on Friday evening. Officials said the hole is barely two feet wide on the ground and widens as the depth increases.
Earlier, district and state level rescue teams considered pulling him up with a rope, but the plan was difficult to communicate. A rescue worker said, “He is taking the food that we are sending through the cable but is not holding the cable.” As the NDRF teams reached the spot late on Friday night, JCB machines were brought in parallel to the pit. As of Sunday, the government had appointed a robotics specialist; A high-duty machine for cutting rocks was obtained from BilaspurAbout a hundred km away.
10-year-old Rahul has been trapped in knee-deep water 62 feet below ground since Friday.
Army and NDRF teams are also working on the spot.
While plans to use robots had to be put on hold after the machines did not work on wet, slippery soil, rescue teams from SECL, SAIL, BALCO and NTPC conducted tests on soil strength, gas leaks and other possible defects. I told.
Meanwhile, water began to collect in the shaft, possibly due to nearby excavations and pressure changes. Drops of water were dripping from the shaft since Friday night and by Monday morning the rescuers realized that Rahul’s throat was filled with water.
Collector JP Shukla, who was present on the spot since Friday, has ordered to start the borewell of the entire village, so that there is minimum water in the shaft. “We have announced no closure of borewells in the village and cleared the rescue site immediately to make the process efficient. The boy will be rescued soon,” he said.
The biggest challenge for rescuers is the topography – thick slabs of stone surround the pit and digging through them is a slow process.
Till late Monday evening, all machines were put aside as NDRF personnel were ready with oxygen tanks and torch head gear. “We are going to dig the last seven feet manually, as the machines are creating vibrations which can destabilize the entire structure,” said an NDRF rescue worker.
Rescuers say that Rahul, who sat in knee-deep water for more than 60 hours, showed courage. “He is eating, sleeping and even helping to draw water from the shaft. His family is trying to talk to him through the hole and the camera sent by us,” said a member of SDRF.
,Sab ki pariksha hai (It is a test for all of us). We just want our baby to come back safely. That’s what the whole village is praying for,” said Shyama Bai, Rahul’s grandmother. CM Bhupesh Baghel is personally monitoring the progress of the rescue and is talking to the family over video call every day. He is also updating the details on social media and assuring people that Rahul will survive. A 105-km green corridor has been built between Piharid and Apollo Hospitals in Bilaspur, where Rahul will be taken after evacuation.