Day 8: Efforts to rescue 3-year-old Rajasthan girl from borewell in progress
Jaipur, Dec 30: Rescue operation of three-year-old Chetna who has been stuck in a 150-feet deep borewell since December 23 is still going on with the teams working day and night to dig a parallel tunnel.
In perhaps one of the longest rescue operations in the state, which is undergoing for over 160 hours, family members have blamed the administration for being negligent. The administration on the other hand has claimed it is one of the toughest operations.
"There is a rock-solid strata. Rain also posed a challenge.
"Teams are making continuous efforts to dig a parallel tunnel. About 6.5 feet of tunnel is pending to reach the girl," Kotputli-Behror District Collector Kalpana Agarwal said on Monday.
She said it is the toughest rescue operation in the state.
NDRF team in-charge Yogesh Kumar Meena told reporters that the rescue operation is going on continuously. The rock is hard and cutting it is becoming a challenge for the team.
He said the drilling is going on in the right direction and it is expected to complete the operation by Monday. A three-member team is working at a time to cut the rock.
The family members blamed the administration for the delay in carrying out the operation.
"It's been days my daughter is stuck in the well. She is suffering from hunger and thirst.
"She has not been taken out till now. If it was collector madam's child, would she let them be there for so long? Please get my daughter out as soon as possible," Dholi Devi had said on Saturday.
Former minister Rajendra Singh Gudha also visited the spot. He blamed the family for keeping the borewell open and also the administration for causing delay in carrying out the operation.
"Everyone is engaged in rescuing the girl but the administration delayed it. If the operation was carried out at war footing after the incident happened then the result would have been better.
"The preparations that were done in the last three days should have been done six days earlier. I got to know that the district collector took three days to reach the spot. It is matter of shame," Gudha told reporters on Sunday.
Chetna had fallen into the borewell while playing in the agriculture farm of her father in Badiyali Dhani under Sarund police station of Kotputli-Behror district of Rajasthan.
Initially, efforts were made to pull the girl out of the borewell with the help of a ring but all attempts failed. After two days of repeated attempts that fetched no results, a piling was brought to the spot on Wednesday morning and a parallel pit was dug.
With each passing moment, the hope for Chetna being well is diminishing as the rescue team was not able to supply any food or water to her.
Two weeks ago, a five-year-old boy fell into a borewell in Dausa district and the rescue operation lasted over 55 hours.
However, the boy lost the battle for his life by the time he was taken out.
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Nitish comes up with cryptic response after Lalu's fresh offer to join INDIA bloc
Patna, Jan 2: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday came up with a cryptic response to RJD president Lalu Prasad's offer to return to the INDIA bloc.
"Kya bol rahe hain (What are you saying)" was all the JD(U) boss said in reply to queries from journalists about Prasad's fresh offer.
Kumar had aligned twice with the RJD, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, in the last one decade.
Prasad's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, however, sought to downplay the remarks made by his father, in an interview to a local news channel, claiming that the RJD supremo had merely tried to satisfy the curiosity of the prying media.
Prasad had said, "Our doors are open (for Nitish). He should also unbolt his gates. This would facilitate movement of people from both sides".
The remark, coming in the backdrop of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's stance on projecting the JD(U) supremo as NDA's face in the assembly polls due in less than a year, triggered intense speculations in a section of the media here.
Kumar was approached with queries by journalists at Raj Bhavan, where he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Arif Mohammad Khan as the new governor.
Flanked by Khan and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary (BJP on either side, Kumar folded his hands and smiled when his comments were sought on the offer from Prasad. Pressed further, he asked, "What are you saying".
When a pointed query was made, as to whether the state government would be able to complete its term, Khan intervened and said, "This is not the occasion for a question of this type. Today is a happy day. Let us only talk about good things".
Later, the posse of journalists approached Yadav, a former Deputy CM and the current leader of the opposition, who had also come to attend the function.
The young leader, who had on Wednesday declared that the new year will see "departure" of the NDA government headed by Nitish Kumar, said: "I have already made my stand clear".
When probed further, with reference to the utterances of his father, Yadav said, "What would he do if people like you keep coming to him with the same question? Whatever he said must have been aimed at putting an end to curiosity of you journalists."
Meanwhile, when questions about Prasad were posed to Union minister and former JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh "Lalan", he snapped.
"The NDA is strong. JD(U) and BJP are united. It is a free society and anybody can say whatever he pleases. It is for Lalu ji to say more on his own utterances", he said.
Lalan was perceived to have grown very close to the RJD supremo when Nitish Kumar was out of NDA. It was rumoured to have been the reason why the de facto JD(U) chief chose to take over as the president of the party.
