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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RSS mouthpiece article on church properties shows their 'true mindset': Kerala CM
Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that a recent article in a RSS mouthpiece about the property owned in the country by the Catholic Church indicates the "true mindset" of the right-wing organisation and the alleged "majority communalism of the Sangh Parivar".
In a statement issued by his office, Vijayan said that though the article was removed from the website of the RSS mouthpiece, it gives some "negative signals".
The CM also alleged that it should be seen as part of "a grand plan to target the minority groups one by one and destroy them step by step".
A similar view was expressed by Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan who claimed that the article shows that the RSS has now set its eyes on the property of the church.
In his statement, the CM further claimed that it also shows the Sangh Parivar's "intense majority communalism which is against other religious communities".
Vijayan urged all progressive democratic secular movements to jointly resist such moves.
Satheesan, while speaking to reporters in Kozhikode, claimed that in the article the RSS has asked the central government to acquire the over seven crore hectares of land belonging to the Catholic Church.
He contended that according to the RSS, the church property was illegally leased during the British era.
Satheesan claimed that the RSS demand in the article came on the same day when the Waqf Bill was passed in the Parliament.
"We warned that if the Waqf Bill is passed, the Church Bill will follow," he added.
The opposition leader said that such actions indicate that while the Sangh Parivar was trying to appease Christians in Kerala, it was attacking them in the rest of the country.
He expressed hope that the Christians will recognise them as "wolves in sheep's clothing".
