The efforts to reach and rescue two-year-old Sujith Wilson, who has been trapped in an abandoned borewell since Friday evening, in Nadukkatupatti village in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district is likely to take another 12 hours, NDTV reported. It has been more than 72 hours since the boy fell into the borewell.
“Rocky terrain has slowed the drilling of a new borewell,” Tamil Nadu Relief Commissioner Radhakrishnan said on Monday. “Rescue may take another 12 hours,” he said on Monday morning.
A new one-metre-wide borewell is being drilled three metres away from the abandoned borewell so as to reach the boy who is reportedly lodged at a depth of 100 feet. After the drilling, fire service personnel will establish a horizontal passage to reach the child. Multiple efforts to rescue the boy have failed repeatedly since Friday evening, and the well is being dug as the final recourse.
“40 feet more to be drilled and then a passage needs to be cut,” Radhakrishnan said. “The child is in a stable condition and is being monitored via camera.”
Deputy Director of Fire Services Priya Ravichandran and Health Minister C Vijayabaskar are supervising the rescue efforts. “We did not anticipate that the rock would be so hard,” Vijayabaskar was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “Even the high powered rigs have struggled to break through the rock. We have just reached about 40 feet and the work has not progressed as planned. We have sought an advanced drill bit from Chennai and it will come soon. That will be an ultimate attempt.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday prayed for the boy’s rescue. “Spoke to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami regarding the rescue efforts underway to save Sujith,” he tweeted. “Every effort is being made to ensure that he is safe.” Palaniswami also tweeted about briefing the prime minister on efforts to find Wilson, saying that three ministers were deputed along with fire and state and national disaster relief personnel.
“Heavy-duty drilling machines and equipment have been deployed and experts from Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Larsen and Toubro, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirapalli are at [the] site to be of guidance,” Palaniswami said. “Further assistance would be sought depending on the status of the rescue efforts.”
The state government sought the help of two farmers Gurinder Singh and Harvinder Singh from Punjab to rescue the child. They had reportedly been involved in rescue efforts of children stuck in borewells in the past, according to The Indian Express. The two are likely to reach Tiruchirappalli late on Monday.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin also prayed for Wilson’s safe rescue. “Just like everyone else, I too, am praying for the safe return of toddler Sujith,” he said.
A team from Anna University in Chennai used a thermal device on Saturday around 4 pm to detect Wilson’s body temperature and claimed that he could be unconscious, adding that there was no way to confirm his condition.
The incident came to light on Friday when the boy’s parents, Britto Arogiyaraj and Kalairani, realised he was missing. According to the Police said Wilson fell into the borewell while playing near it around Friday evening. An earlier rescue attempt by digging nearby areas with earth movers was reportedly stopped after the machines hit a layer of rock.
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