Hyderabad: Two-year-old boy rescued from borewell was kept conscious with music

Officials of NDRF, Guntur administration, police and State Disaster Response and Fire Services took part in the rescue. NDRF officials from the 10th Batallion based at Mangalagiri nearby dug a parallel pit and a lateral burrow and reached the toddler from the bottom, to prevent him from sinking further. The NDRF team led by Commandant Zahid Shaikh sent down improvised, bore-well specific and victim-locating cameras to find out where he was stuck. Then while they chalked out a rescue plan, they sent down a mobile phone with the speaker on and his parents Mallikarjun and Anu kept talking from above.

The boy kept responding to their calls throughout his 12-hour ordeal. Oxygen was pumped into the bore well as parallel excavation started. There was a time close to midnight when it started raining and water stared to flow towards the borewell. Officials immediately dumped sand and mud around it to prevent it. When the boy appeared to be losing consciousness, officials played music on the mobile phone and he kept awake until he was finally rescued at 3 am Thursday.

Apart from his ordeal in the dark, the boy did not suffer any injury and after a few hours at the hospital was discharged last night. The rescue is being praised as it was done under frequent spells of rain, and excavation was carried through sandstone using JCB machines and hydraulic drills.

After meeting the boy his parents today, the CM instructed officials to prepare a plan to find out and cover up all abandoned and uncovered bore wells in the state. “People should click photos of such borewells on their smartphones, and send it to their local authorities,’’ he said.