Despite adverse climatic conditions, officials of the Hatti Gold Mines, commandos of the Maratha Light Infantry, fire fighters and the police made significant progress in the operations launched to save four-year-old Kanchana who fell into an abandoned borewell at Devar Nimbargi village in Bijapur district, here on Saturday.
In the early hours of the day, officials of Hatti Gold Mines conducted two more blasts to break rock inside the parallel hole dug to reach Kanchana, who is 45 ft inside the borewell. After clearing mud and stone up to 55 ft, the officials started digging a hole, horizontally up to six feet, to remove her body.
As the necessary equipment to dig a horizontal hole was brought to the spot in advance, the officials could manage to dig a three-foot wide hole. They pressed into service two drilling machines as they found another rock slab beneath.
Since the drilling machines were taking too long to blast the rock, the commandoes and the officials decided to conduct two more blasts within a four-hour period. They also decided to press five heavy-duty earthmovers into service to remove mud from both the holes.
Work stopped
Work was stopped between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. owing to a heavy downpour in the village. With only three feet left to reach Kanchana, the commandos and the officials have decided to continue with the rescue operations, hoping to finish by Sunday morning.
Deputy Commissioner R. Shantraju, zilla panchayat chief executive officer K.H. Kaknur, Assistant Commissioner Y.S. Patil and some zilla panchayat members are supervising the rescue operations.
