2-year-old Sangrur boy declared dead after being pulled out of borewell

Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Sangrur, June 11

The 109-hour-long rescue operation by the NDRF and Sangrur administration failed to take out two-year-old Fatehveer Singh alive from the 150-ft-deep borewell.

The boy was declared dead after he was pulled out of the borewell.

The NDRF team on Tuesday retrieved the child at around 5.15 am amid allegations of the use of crude equipment, but the administration denied this.

(Read: Sangrur toddler died 'a few days back': Autopsy report)

“Locals had approached the Sangrur administration on Thursday night and tried to convince them that they could retrieve the child with an iron pipe with a hook fixed on its top. But the administration did not allow this. On Monday night, the administration and the NDRF called the same person and pulled out the boy using the same pipe. Had they used it earlier, Fatehveer would have been alive today,” alleged the locals standing outside Fatehveer’s house while showing the pipe.

However, the Deputy Commissioner denied the use of any such equipment saying the NDRF is a professional organisation and they had tied the child’s hands with a rope on Thursday night, but could not pull him out. The NDRF kept trying the same technique twice daily.

“Since the NDRF teams had removed sand from the borewell, where the child was stuck at a depth of around 125 feet, through a parallel borewell it made space in the borewell. The NDRF pulled out the child with the same clamps that were tied on the first day. NDRF officials said it was the toughest operation for them as earlier they had retrieved children from lesser depths,” the DC said.

After pulling the body out, the NDRF team put the child in an ambulance that left for the PGI in Chandigarh. Earlier, the administration wanted to take the child to the Sangrur civil hospital; a special team of doctors had been kept there on standby.

On June 6, Fatehveer had fallen into the borehole covered with a jute bag.  

Alleging failure of the Punjab government and Sangrur administration, locals blocked the road in Sunam and started a protest demanding action against the officials, who had allegedly delayed the rescue operation with their experimentation.

Locals alleged that the NDRF did not allow some locals who were experts in borewell digging to pull the child out earlier using the indigenous technique.

“There should not be any politics over the tragic incident. We under Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh took every possible step to retrieve Fatehveer,” said minister Vijay Inder Singla, who had been camping at the site for three days.

Later, the body of Fatehveer was flown in from Chandigarh and reached Bhagwanpura.