Operation to rescue 2-year-old boy stuck in borewell in 'final stage': Officials
Sangrur: Nearly 70 hours after two-year-old Fatehvir Singh fell into a 150-foot-deep borewell in Punjab's Sangrur district, officials Sunday said the operation to rescue him is in its "final stage".
Fatehvir, who is the only child of his parents, fell into the unused borewell in a field while he was playing near his house around 4 pm Thursday, officials said.
The seven-inch-wide borewell was covered with a cloth and the boy accidentally stepped on it. His mother tried to rescue him, but failed.
"The rescue operation is going on and is in its final stage. It is expected to be completed today," Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Ganshyam Thori said.
No food could be provided to the child, who has been unconscious after he fell into the borewell, he said, adding that oxygen is being supplied to him.
On Saturday morning, officials, who were monitoring the boy's condition through camera, had said some movements of the child were noticed.
Thori said the entire rescue operation is being carried out under his supervision and it was quite challenging as there are a lot of technical issues involved.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also deputed an officer who specialises in operations to rescue children stuck in borewells, the DC said.
The toddler is stuck at a depth of 125 feet and a team of NDRF personnel and army experts, assisted by police, civil authorities, villagers and volunteers, are carrying out the rescue operations.
To retrieve Fatehvir, a parallel borewell has been dug by installing reinforced cement concrete (RCC) pipes of nearly 30 inches in diameter.
"No where in the world has such an operation been carried out where a child is stuck at such a depth in a borewell.Even recently in the Hisar incident, the depth of the borewell was much less," Thori said.
In March, an 18-month-old boy was rescued from a borewell in Haryana's Hisar district, two days after he had fallen into it.
Giving details of the operation, Thori said NDRF personnel had managed to clamp both the hands of the child in the early phase of the rescue operation on Thursday, but given the peculiar position where he is stuck, they could not risk pulling him as he could be harmed.
Thori said a team of doctors are stationed at the site to provide the best medical assistance to Fatehvir whenever he is taken out of the borewell.
He said an ambulance equipped with a ventilator has also been stationed at the site. Twenty-six members of the NDRF are engaged in the rescue operation.
The incident has again brought to fore the dangers posed by uncovered borewells, which have turned into death traps for children.
Besides the Hisar incident, in 2006, a massive operation was launched to rescue five-year-old Prince, who had fallen into a borewell in a village in Kurukshetra. He was pulled out safely nearly 48 hours later.
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Marxism will remain relevant despite Left electoral's losses, says general secretary M A Baby
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby on Thursday asserted that the Left movement would remain relevant despite not being in power in any state, saying the ideology would continue to endure as long as social and economic inequalities persist.
Hitting back at BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar over his reported remarks that Marxism had become irrelevant, Baby, in an interview with PTI Videos, said, "So long as there is division in society, so long as there is exploitation of the majority of workers, peasants and ordinary masses by a handful of billionaires, Marxism will remain relevant."
"That perhaps Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar may not be able to understand, but this is the fact of the matter," he said.
Baby acknowledged that the CPI(M)-led Left was currently without an elected government in any state, but maintained that electoral setbacks would not diminish the movement's role.
"We may not have an elected government in any state. There were occasions when we didn't have a government. But the red flag and the commitment to organise and struggle for the rights of the dispossessed, marginalised and exploited will always be upheld by CPI(M) and the Left movement," he said.
He said the Left continued to enjoy support among workers, peasants, agricultural labourers, youth, students and women, and argued that the movement remained necessary because "oppression and assault" continued in society.
"So long as such problems exist in society, the red flag and the working class movement will continue to work among the masses," the Left leader said.
Exuding confidence on the Left's revival, Baby said the party would reflect on the reasons behind its electoral loss.
"We may be rejected in one election, but we will stage our comeback by understanding what went wrong with us," he said, adding, "We will listen to people and we will come back with higher strength."
Baby also criticised the Congress over reported factional tensions in Kerala after the Congress-led United Democratic Front's victory in the state.
"The way they are behaving is being watched by the people of Kerala," he said, referring to infighting within the Congress.
"Those who have given a massive majority to Congress and UDF would be watching all this," he added, while urging party leaders to "settle the problem in an amicable, democratic manner".
Referring to West Bengal, Baby alleged that violence had escalated following the BJP's victory in the state assembly polls.
"It is quite unfortunate that the moment BJP snatched a massive victory in West Bengal, violence has also started on a big scale," he said.
He also accused the Trinamool Congress of being "notorious for violent activities" and alleged that the "RSS-controlled BJP" had "unleashed violence in many places" after the election results.
"This is not good for Bengal, not good for the country. We wish and hope that normalcy would be restored as soon as possible," he said.
Baby said the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal would continue efforts to "pacify people" and avoid violence and confrontation.
Asked about former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan not reacting publicly to the election results, Baby said Vijayan would respond "at an appropriate time".
