5 min readChandigarhJun 30, 2026 03:30 PM IST
First published on: Jun 30, 2026 at 03:08 PM IST
Rescue work at Ambala’s Dhanaura village, where a four-year-old boy has fallen into an open borewell, has brought back memories of the two-decades-old operation to rescue Prince, a four-year-old who fell into a borewell at Kurukshetra’s Haldaheri village, about four kilometres from Dhanaura.
Led by the Army, the 50-hour operation to rescue Prince made national headlines in 2006, as homes across the country tuned into news channels to follow the rescue attempts second by second. The wait ended in jubilation as Prince was rescued two days later.
Now 24, Prince recalls the horrifying incident. “On July 23, 2006, my friend Angrez and I were playing near the borewell in our village. It was covered with a jute bag that gave way because we jumped on it. Angrez maintained his balance, but I fell into the borewell. Although I was too young at that time, the memories haunt me when I look at videos and pictures of the rescue operation. I was rescued on the morning of July 25, which also happens to be my birthday. I feel lucky today that I was saved,” he told The Indian Express.
Prince recently completed his ITI diploma and now works as a plumber. On why he chose this line of work, he replied, “I tried to get into government jobs, but could not succeed. I tried to join the Army, but did not meet the height criteria. Then, somebody suggested that I should complete a diploma course at an ITI. I completed it recently. These days, I am searching for a regular job. Currently, I am doing an internship as a plumber in a hospital here,” he replied. Prince’s father, Ram Chander, works in a private company and his stepmother, Mamta, is a homemaker.
He added that his friends told him about today’s incident. “I got a call from my friends who live in Dhanaura village. They informed me that a four-year-old boy has fallen into a borewell. My own experience flashed before my eyes after hearing this news. I am praying to God that this child also survives like me,” Prince said. He said that he had been creating awareness in and around his village, requesting people to cover open borewells and cautioning children not to go near them.
The Indian Express spoke to Prince in December 2016. He was then 15.
People tell Prince he was brave, having survived those 50 hours inside. He smiles at the thought. Besides the sack that gave way and the fall, there is something else Prince remembers about the borewell: the cockroaches. “I was so small. Mitti daal kar unko chupaa de raha tha (I kept covering them with mud),” Prince told The Indian Express in December 2016, when he was studying in school.
To prevent such incidents, which have claimed several lives, the Supreme Court has issued strict guidelines to states and Union Territories. These include: mandatory fencing/barriers around borewells during construction; proper capping of borewells; filling abandoned borewells with clay, sand, boulders, etc.; monitoring by district authorities; maintaining records of borewells; and directions to complete the capping of abandoned borewells within specified timelines.
How was Prince rescued?
Prince was successfully rescued from the 60-foot-deep abandoned borewell in Haldaheri village after a 50-hour ordeal that gripped the nation. After initial attempts to rescue him failed, the Army’s Kharga Corps from Ambala launched an operation.
Faced with severe risks of cave-ins, engineers deployed heavy machinery to dig a deep parallel shaft. To ensure the trapped child is fine, rescuers continuously pumped in oxygen and lowered milk, chocolates, and a light bulb using ropes.
Upon reaching the 60-ft depth, the operation entered its most critical phase. Rescuers spent 13 exhausting hours hand-digging a horizontal, iron-pipe-reinforced connecting tunnel to bridge the two wells. Despite encountering minor soil alignment issues, the team broke through. Captain Pankaj Upadhyay crawled through the narrow passage and safely extracted Prince alive, fittingly on his fifth birthday. The successful operation triggered nationwide celebrations and prompted immediate calls for stricter safety laws regarding uncovered tubewells.
Rescue op for Nirbhay
Twenty years after Prince’s nightmare, four-year-old Nirbhay has fallen into a 220-ft borewell in Ambala. The incident occurred when Nirbhay went to the fields with his father to deliver food to his grandfather.
While playing, the child slipped into the open borewell. Upon receiving the information, top officials have rushed to the spot. The NDRF and the state’s disaster response team have started the rescue operation. The borewell has a diameter of approximately 9 inches. The NDRF has also reached out to the Army, Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh Tomar said.
Prince fell into a borewell 20 years back. He was rescued after a 50-hour operation. (Credit special arrangement/AI enhanced) 
The Indian Express spoke to Prince in December 2016. He was then 15.
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