Betul borewell incident: Rescue op to save 8-yr-old crosses 65 hrs; parents furious

Tanmay had fallen into the 400 feet borewell while playing at his farm on December 6, his father Sunil Sahu informed. The child's elder sister had seen him falling and informed her family, who immediately rushed to the spot.

Betul (Madhya Pradesh): The rescue operation in Betul crossed 65 hours on Friday as the 8-year-old Tanmay remains stuck 55 feet below the ground in a borewell. The rescue officials said the operation has progressed considerably and the team has now started manual efforts to reach the child as the situation now is 'very sensitive'.

"We have completed the digging to 45 feet and now have started digging a horizontal tunnel. There were hard rocks in the way which were broken with the help of machines. But now we have reached near the child and the situation is sensitive, so now it will be dug manually and will try to reach him," he said.

Betul Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Shyamendra Jaiswal, monitoring the rescue team, had on Thursday said that the child is not responding as he might have fallen unconscious, though the team could get a response from him at the initial stages of the rescue operation. A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Home Guard, and local police personnel have been called on the spot and the rescue operation is continuously progressing, he added.

Meanwhile, Tanmay's parents are enraged at the amount of time the rescue operation is taking, even as the risk of him dying in there is increasing with every passing minute. "Days have passed, and they are not saying anything. Not even allowing me to see. Tanmay fell on Tuesday and now it is Friday. I don't want anything, I just want to see my child once. Whatever it may be, just take him out," the child's wailing mother said.

Raising questions at the efficiency of the administration, the woman asked if 'it would have taken so much time had it been a child of a leader or an officer'.

Tanmay's teacher, Geeta Mankar, said, "Tanmay is a student of Class 3. His classmates and teachers are praying for his safety. Tanmay is a bright and friendly student. We all hope he comes out safe soon"

Tanmay had fallen into the 400 feet borewell while playing at his farm on December 6, his father Sunil Sahu informed. The child's elder sister had seen him falling and informed her family, who immediately rushed to the spot. "He was breathing and we listened to his voice as we enquired. The rescue operation was started from 6 pm onwards on Tuesday," informed Tanmay's father.