A tragic incident occurred in Kutch district on Monday when an 18-year-old girl, who fell into a 540-foot-deep borewell, was rescued after more than 33 hours but later declared dead at a hospital.
The girl fell into the borewell at Kanderai village in Bhuj taluka around 6:30 a.m. on Monday. She became stuck at a depth of 490 feet, prompting authorities to launch a multi-agency rescue operation.
Officials said the borewell had a one-foot diameter, and the girl’s size made the rescue efforts particularly challenging. She was finally brought out of the borewell at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, the girl could not survive and was declared dead by doctors at GK General Hospital in Bhuj,” said AB Jadav, assistant collector and SDM of Bhuj.
The rescue operation employed a "hook technique" to extract the girl. L and J-shaped hooks were lowered into the borewell, attached to two sides, and pressure was applied from below to pull her up.
According to a state water supply and sewerage board official, a makeshift contraption was prepared with the help of local drillers.
The operation involved multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Border Security Force (BSF), fire department personnel of the Bhuj municipality, local emergency response teams, police, and officials from the local administration.
(With inputs from agencies)