Neer Manvi (Raichur District): The Raichur district administration has launched a massive operation with the help of mining experts from Hutti Gold Mines Ltd. to rescue an eight-year-old boy who fell into an abandoned borewell in an agriculture field at Neer Manvi village in Manvi taluk of Raichur district.

The victim, identified as Sandeep, son of Nagaraj and Lakshmi and a third standard student who had gone with his friend to play in an agriculture field, had slipped into the borewell at about noon. As soon as he fell into the 35-foot hole, the local people launched rescue operation by leaving the rope into the borewell, but the boy could not hold the rope.

According to eyewitness accounts, the boy, who was responding to calls from above the ground for about one hour, stopped answering the calls.

The borewell was dug a couple of months ago by the landowner.

After the borewell failed, a ring cover was laid on the two-foot hole but after the theft of the iron ring cover over, the owner had placed a stone slab as a precaution. Even the stone slab was removed a few days ago.

According to another version, the boy travelling by a tractor while returning from a mango grove and fell from the vehicle and slipped into the borewell.

Within one hour after the incident, the Manvi tahsildar and senior police officials reached the spot.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad and Superintendent of Police T.A. Padmanaya, who rushed to the spot, contacted expert miners in Hutti to take up the relief operations to save the child.

Mr. Prasad, who is supervising the rescue operations, told The Hindu over phone that an all-out effort was being made to rescue the boy and the authorities were injecting oxygen continuously into the borewell.

Mr. Prasad said the boy was struck at 35 feet of the 150-deep borewell and five excavators were working continuously digging parallel hole about five foot from the borewell. He said it was easy to dig till 28 foot and workers were finding it difficult to go further because of a rock. "Hopefully we would be able to complete the task of digging up to 40 feet within and dig up a horizontal hole to reach the spot," he said. He said a 40-member team from Hutti, assisted by the local officials and police personnel, were helping in the rescue.

The officials have also contacted the Army personnel in Belgaum and Bangalore. The officials have installed floodlights at the spot.

Officials apprehensive

Meanwhile, the officials involved in the rescue operations were keeping their fingers crossed about the boy.

They have thrown food articles, including cold drinks, milk and biscuit packets inside the hole to enable the boy to pick them up.

However, there was no response from the boy.

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