NDRF and SDRF personnel during a rescue operation to save a 3-year-old girl who fell into a borewell in the Kotputli-Behror district, Rajasthan on December 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A three-year-old girl pulled out from a 170-foot deep borewell in Rajasthan’s Kotputli-Behror district was declared dead on Wednesday (January 1, 2025) after one of the longest rescue operations in the State. The girl, identified as Chetna, who fell into the borewell on December 23, could not survive without food and water for 10 days.
The girl was rushed to the Government BDM Hospital in Kotputli situated 15 km away, where the doctors declared her dead after her medical examination. The rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) raced against time to pull out Chetna, but the multiple layers of sedimentary rock compounded the drilling work.
Chetna fell into the borewell while playing in her father’s farm at Badiyali Ki Dhani village. The rescuers initially tried to pull out the girl using an iron ring attached to a rope, but they failed despite repeated attempts. A piling machine was brought to the spot after two days and a parallel pit was dug adjacent to the borewell.
The unconscious child was closely wrapped in a white cloth when NDRF jawan Mahavir Jat brought her out. NDRF team in-charge Yogesh Meena said there was no movement in the body when she was extracted. As many as 30 officials were on work to get the girl out of the borewell.
Kotputli-Behror Collector Kalpana Agrawal said this was the toughest rescue operation in the State. Though the experts joined the rescue efforts, it took a long time because of a tilt in the borewell after a certain depth which led to complications in the gruelling rescue exercise, she said. The rain and inclement weather also delayed the process.
BDM Hospital’s Principal Medical Officer Chaitanya Rawat said the post-mortem of the body would reveal when the girl had died inside the borewell. A three-member team of doctors has been constituted for the post-mortem.
In a similar incident, a five-year-old boy fell into a borewell in Dausa district about two weeks ago. The rescue operation lasted more than 55 hours at the spot, but the boy lost the battle for life by the time he was taken out. (EOM)
Published – January 01, 2025 11:35 pm IST
