Sambalpur: An infant found stuck in an abandoned borewell in Odisha's Sambalpur district was rescued on Tuesday evening after the state government launched a major operation to pull the child out, officials said.
The baby was rescued more than six hours after it was spotted in the around 20-foot-deep borewell at Laripali village in Rengali area. Oxygen was supplied into the borewell to ensure the infant kept breathing well while he was being rescued. The baby, apparently newly born, has no claimant, police said.
"The infant is alive. The baby had stopped crying for some time. Its cries were heard again after a 100-watt electric bulb was lowered into the borewell for light as well to keep the baby warm," said Dr Subham Singha, who was part of the rescue team. An ambulance was kept ready at the site and as soon as the baby was rescued from the bore-well, the officials rushed it to a hospital.
Director General, Fire Service, Dr Sudhansu Sarangi, said that a victim location camera was lowered into the bore well to trace the location of the baby. "This camera helped us find a place to cut the iron pipe to retrieve the baby from the borewell," he said. The camera was sent from Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda airport on a special flight.
Earlier, the fire service personnel dug a 17-foot pit parallel to the borewell. The baby was stuck at about 13 feet below, Sarangi said. Local people came to know about the presence of the child inside the borewell after hearing cries at around 3.30 pm, police said. The abandoned borewell is located in a forest close to the village.
The police said it was not known how the infant got into the well. Locals suspect that the infant might have been dumped there by someone. Besides the police and fire services personnel, those belonging to the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and the NDRF were also there to help in the rescue operation.
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