Boy trapped in borewell dead

Even as expert diggers from Hatti Gold Mines continued their efforts to extricate the eight-year-old boy from the depths of an abandoned borewell at Neeramanvi village in north Karnataka’s Raichur district, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy declared the trapped boy dead.

Kumaraswamy, who was initially scheduled to visit Neeramanvi village, where rescue operations are continuing for the last two days, cancelled his trip and announced a compensation of Rs 100,000 to the family of the boy Sandeep. “The boy is no more”, Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bijapur.

Sandeep had slipped into the open borewell while was running to catch a truck passing through a field on Tuesday. “The administration tried its best to save the boy”, the Chief Minister said.

However, in Neeramanvi, the personnel of Hatti Gold Mines continued their efforts to reach the boy, who is apparently stuck at a depth of around 39 feet in the 60-feet deep abandoned borewell, amidst fading hopes of rescuing the boy alive. The rescuers first dug 40 feet down from the surface, some 12 feet away from the original pit and began tunneling horizontally to reach the boy.

Though officials supervising the rescue operations remained tightlipped on the outcome of the efforts, the absence of any response from the boy, who has gone without any food or water in high temperatures, has diminished the hopes of the people. The foul smell emanating from the pit too had ebbed the morale of the villagers, who had gathered at the site in large numbers.

The boy’s father Nagaraj, who has been rendered immobile on account of an accident six months ago, has rejected the compensation amount announced by the Government. A visibly distraught Nagaraj told reporters that he wants his son alive. Sandeep’s mother, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, has been kept in the dark about the latest tragedy to hit the family.

Meanwhile, the anxiety among the villagers over the outcome of the rescue operations turned into anger yesterday when the authorities failed to bring out the trapped boy even 48 hours after he had slipped into the borewell. The failure of Minister in charge of Raichur District Alkod Hanumanthappa and the area MLA Mr Muniyappa Muddappa, both representing the ruling JD (S), to visit the site of mishap has added to their anger.

In view of the tense situation prevailing in Neeramanvi, a large number of police personnel had been deployed at the site to prevent any untoward incident. Deputy Commissioner Raichur Manjunath Prasad and Superintendent of Raichur district police D A Padmanayana are camping at the site with their staff to supervise the operations.