Cow rescued from 94-ft. deep open well

A cow, which had fallen into a 94-feet deep open-well in an agricultural field near Khanagaon village of Gokak taluk on Monday evening, was rescued alive by members of an adventure club on Tuesday afternoon.

The cow belonging to Shree Kampi Basavanna temple was heard bawling. A villager rushed in the direction of the sound and found the cow inside the open-well, situated in an agriculture field about 0.5 km from the temple.

On being informed about the incident, former Khangaon Gram Panchayat president Shivanand Patil informed the fire personnel at Gokak and Ayub Khan, who heads the Gokak-town based ‘Explore the Outdoors’ adventure club. Mr. Khan went to the spot along with four members of his team and a winch connected to his jeep, even as a team of fire personnel also rushed to the spot.

Mr. Khan, who monitored the entire rescue operation, said it took around three hours to bring the cow out. Getting inside the 94-feet deep well itself was risky as there were no proper steps. However, his team member Dastagir Jamadar and two other young farmers got down into the well with the help of ropes. Then they prepared a harness with the belts and the cow was pulled out with the help of the winch.

By this time, a veterinary doctor and his staff from Gokak came to the spot and administered medicines, covered the body of the cow with warm jute bags and started rubbing its body. With few minutes, the cow recovered its lost energy. However, the cow suffered fractures in its both horns and a injury on one of its limbs and bruises. But for the sufficient water and slush in the well, the cow would not have survived.

Mr. Khan said he was preparing to celebrate his birthday with his family in the morning when the call from Mr. Patil came. “It was a wonderful birthday gift in the form of an opportunity to save an animal, which gave me great satisfaction today,” he said, acknowledging the support from villagers and fire personnel in the rescue operation.