What went wrong

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, June 11

Right from the start, shortage of latest gadgets and equipment caused technical hurdles for the rescue team during the operation, said sources.

On June 6, the NDRF failed to pull the child out with clamps. On June 7, JCB machines were used to dig a parallel shaft up to 60 feet. The administration, in the absence of a specialised machine, then opted for manual digging to install pipes. It was largely done by locals on June 8 and 9.

On June 9, an opening on the side of the pipe to retrieve the child got placed in the wrong direction as there was no device to guide it down the shaft and place it right opposite where Fatehveer was stuck, causing a six-hour delay.

On June 10, the NDRF and local administration failed to locate the child for five hours.

After digging the 127-foot parallel shaft, an NDRF officer breached the borewell from the bottom but couldn’t spot him at the expected place five feet above. The digging was done manually without any device to check the exact location of the child. He was finally located 6.5 ft above the point where the borewell was breached.