At least four children who slipped into poorly closed borewells died in different parts of Tamil Nadu in the last three years.
In most of the cases, rescuers took several hours to reach the children who suffered the ordeal of dying even before first aid could reach them.
No Standard Operating Procedure
Apparently, police sources say, there is no Standard Operating Procedure when it comes to pulling out victims trapped in borewells though private institutions are trying to apply robotic technology.
In the case of three-year-old Madhumitha who stepped into a deep borewell feebly covered in her father’s land in Villupuram district, rescuers reached the spot in less than an hour.
When attempts to reach the girl using a rope failed, Fire and Rescue Service personnel managed to move in an earthmover that was engaged in road laying works nearby.
Work hampered
Rocky terrain delayed attempts to dig a parallel well. Efforts were on till late Saturday to rescue the girl who slipped into the 8-inch borewell and got stuck at 30 feet where the diameter shrunk to six inches.
While pumping oxygen into the borewell, police kept a medical team and ambulance at the scene.
“We neither have the trained manpower nor specialised equipment to rescue people in such circumstances. The fire service personnel are adopting conventional methods. Even the National Disaster Response Force stationed at Arakkonam has no expertise in these cases,” a top police official said.
Successful save
But fire service personnel did save the life of a four-year-old boy A. Guna, who fell into a deep borewell and got stuck at 22 feet, using locally available materials in Krishnagiri district in 2012. Rescuers first dropped a long rope with a knot that gripped the boy’s hand and then used a think steel string to hook his shirt collar and another rope to tie his leg.
All the three were slowly lifted up thus rescuing the boy alive within a few hours, said M. Dakshinamurthy, the then Divisional Fire and Rescue Services Officer.
Mr. Dakshinamurthy, now retired, along with his team received Gallantry Medals from the Chief Minister on September 15, 2013.
Joint Director of Fire and Rescue Services, Western Region, M. Shahul Hameed said that though some gadgets were developed, they had to be tested for safety.
Proposal
Ramesh Kudawla, Additional Director-General of Police/Director of Fire and Rescue Services, said it had been proposed to the government to equip the force with gadgets to handle such situations.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/methods-to-tackle-borewell-accidents-still-inadequate/article5877080.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/methods-to-tackle-borewell-accidents-still-inadequate/article5877080.ece
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Apr 6, 2014, (PTI):
After a 19-hour long struggle, a three-year old girl who fell into an abandoned borewell in the district was today rescued, but she later died in hospital.
R Madhumita, stuck at around 28-30 ft of the 500-feet borewell at Pallagaseri village since yesterday, was pulled out around 3 am and rushed to the Kallakurichi Government General Hospital, police said.
After nearly an hour-long efforts to save her, the doctors declared her dead.
"The child was in a state of coma when brought to the hospital... Affected by lack of oxygen for long hours," hospital Superintendent Dr Udayakumar said.
The girl, who was playing in the field owned by her father, fell into the borewell around 8 am yesterday as polythene sacks covering it gave away when she stepped on it.
Teams from police, fire and rescue services personnel began resuce efforts, which included supply of oxygen into the borewell and digging a pit parallel to the borewell.
TVS Community College personnel from Madurai too pitched in to support the rescue efforts and tried to pull out the girl using robotic arms in vain.
The incident exposes yet again failure to enforce the 2010 Supreme Court guidelines on safety measures while digging borewells, issued in the aftermath of increasing number of fatal falls into borewells across the country.
In September last year, a six-year old girl child met with a similar fate after falling into a borewell in Pulavanpadi village in Tiruvannamalai District.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/397140/child-rescued-borewell-19-hours.html
Why NDRF personnel remained mere spectators
They lack expertise in rescuing people from borewells, though they operate sophisticated equipment
A contingent of 12 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force landed at the remote Pallagacheri hamlet in the Thiagadurgam block on Saturday to witness the operation launched by the police and the Fire and Rescue Service to pull out a three-year-old girl from a borewell.
However, the personnel, led by Inspector Ajayakumar, remained mere spectators. The NDRF is known for its daring rescue operations at the time of natural calamities and man-made disasters.
The NDRF detachment, stationed at Arakkonam, is charged with handling disasters in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Union Territory of Puducherry, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the Lakshadweep.
It is reliably learnt that the personnel lack expertise in rescuing people from borewells, though they are equipped with thermal image camera, victim location camera and innumerable cutting apparatus.
Rescuing a person from a borewell is tricky as the operation involves a careful study of the depth where he has fallen and the angle in which he is lying, and whether he is covered with mud or soil and whether he is breathing so that oxygen can be pumped in.
Asked why the personnel from such an elite force were not utilised, Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Villupuram Range) S. Murugan told The Hindu: “They lack expertise in rescuing people from borewells. Of course, such incidents are rare. But I deem it fit for NDRF personnel to acquire necessary skills in this area, too. Therefore, I ask them to come and watch the rescue operation so that they can get first-hand information.”
District Revenue Officer R. Brindadevi said the NDRF personnel themselves admitted that they did not have the expertise. Yet, they wanted to study the operation, and the problems and complications involved in it.
Besides training in such skills, the DIG said, NDRF personnel should be given equipment needed to rescue persons from borewells. “As the NDRF has the means and manpower to move to any part of the country at a short notice, it will be an ideal force to deal with such a crisis as witnessed at Pallagacheri, if its personnel are trained.”
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/why-ndrf-personnel-remained-mere-spectators/article5880387.ece
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