A two-and-a-half-year-old boy fell into an open well in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district on Thursday evening, triggering a massive rescue operation.
The incident took place around 8 pm on April 9 at Jalaria village in Badnagar tehsil district, according to news agency PTI. Badnagar is 75 km from Ujjain. The child, Bhagirath, had come with his family from the Pali region of Rajasthan a few days ago. His family, who work as shepherds, were herding sheep in the area when the accident occurred.
Local police, led by Badnagar SHO Ashok Patidar, reached the spot soon after receiving the information. Teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were also deployed with rescue equipment. A salvage operation was launched using six Pocklain and JCB machines, with the SDRF team drilling a hole parallel to the side of the well.
Ujjain Collector Roshan Singh and SP Pradeep Sharma are at the site, while administration and police teams continue their efforts to safely rescue the child, who is believed to be trapped at a depth of about 70 feet, according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”. Bhaskar English language a report.
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The well is being supplied with oxygen, and a camera has been lowered to monitor the child and assist in rescue efforts. Officials are trying to establish contact with him, while villagers are helping in the operation, according to the agency report.
How did the boy fall into the well?
SP Sharma told ANI that the well cover had a stone placed on top of it, which led to a sheep falling out of it. Then the child opened the lid and fell down while staring at it.
Bhagirath is the youngest of three sons of Praveen Devasi, a sheep herder from the Pali district of Rajasthan, who came to the Malwa district with his group to herd sheep. Bhagirath’s father is currently in Bali, while his elder brothers Hitesh (8) and Kuldeep (6) are studying there.
In a separate incident, on April 4, a 54-year-old woman was killed and five members of her family, including a child, were injured after their car hit a barrier and fell into a 40-foot-deep ditch on the Guna Bypass Road on Saturday, police said. The family was returning from Ujjain after performing Hajj. The family came to know about the incident around 7 am, said Anup Bhargava, Cantonment Police Station Officer-in-Charge, according to an ANI report.
Bhargava added that Anita Agarwal died on the spot, while the injured were shifted to Guna District Hospital where they are undergoing treatment.
In another incident, a three-storey building collapsed on the evening of April 7 near the Jebi Hanuman temple on Dhaba Road, an official said. Speaking to ANI, Santosh Tagore, Deputy Commissioner of Ujjain Municipal Corporation, told ANI that no loss of life was reported in the incident.
