Five-hour rescue ends in triumph; boy pulled safely from 400-foot borewell in Alwar

Butoli, Alwar, Sep 1 (IANS) In a dramatic rescue operation lasting nearly five hours, a nine-year-old boy, Bhanu, was safely pulled out of a borewell in Butoli village of Rajasthan’s Alwar district on Monday night. The successful rescue brought immense relief and joy to hundreds of villagers, police and administrative officials, and rescue team members who had been anxiously waiting at the site.

Bhanu, son of Shishram, had accidentally fallen into an old, abandoned borewell while chasing a kite. The borewell was reportedly around 400 feet deep, while the child became trapped at a depth of approximately 40–50 feet.

The boy was brought out safely at around 11 p.m. and was reportedly conscious, healthy and able to speak. As a precaution, officials took him to a nearby hospital for a medical examination.

According to residents, Bhanu was running towards a field to retrieve a kite after it had been cut during kite flying. While running, his foot landed on a stone covering an old borewell.

The stone shifted suddenly, causing the boy to fall into the borewell. The borewell had reportedly remained unused for a long time and had been covered only with a stone. Since the field had seen little human activity for a long time, villagers were unaware of the dangerous open borewell.

Additional Superintendent of Police Priyanka Raghuvanshi said that police and administrative officials received information about the incident at around 6:30 p.m. Teams immediately reached the spot and launched a rescue operation.

SDM Manisha Resham, Tehsildar Manish Kumar Sharma, DSP Narendra Kumar and Station House Officer Rajesh Kumar, along with other officials, were present at the site.

Teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) took charge of the rescue operation. Three JCB machines were deployed to dig around the borewell in an effort to reach the trapped child.

Rescuers supplied oxygen to Bhanu inside the borewell and also managed to provide him with water. Rescue personnel continuously monitored his condition while working to bring him out safely.

After nearly five hours of intense efforts, the rescue operation finally succeeded at around 11 p.m. When Bhanu emerged safely from the borewell, cheers erupted at the site.

For his family, the tense hours ended in tears of relief and happiness. Villagers who had been standing anxiously at the site for hours also heaved a collective sigh of relief.

ASP Priyanka Raghuvanshi said Bhanu appeared to be in good health and was able to communicate after being rescued. Nevertheless, he was taken to a nearby medical facility for a precautionary health check-up.

One of the key figures in the successful rescue was Sachin Chaudhary, a resident of Naugaon in Alwar district and a national-level technical expert with the NDRF.

Chaudhary was reportedly on leave in Naugaon when he learned about the incident through social media. He immediately decided to travel to Butoli and reached the site at around 9:30 p.m.

After arriving, he coordinated with the rescue teams and provided technical assistance during the operation. According to Chaudhary, he requested the cooperation of the rescue personnel and helped with the technical aspects of the process used to bring Bhanu out.

He said that the child was rescued within around 10 minutes of his arrival at the site. Seeing Bhanu emerge safely was an emotional and deeply satisfying moment for him, too.

The successful rescue transformed the atmosphere at the site from one of fear and tension to celebration. Villagers praised the efforts of the police and administration as well as the SDRF and NDRF teams.

In Butoli, timely information, quick administrative action, the tireless efforts of the rescue teams and crucial technical assistance helped save a young life.

–IANS

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