Scientists from Anna University tried in vain to deploy a robot to rescue Sujith from the borewell. The plan didn’t succeed as the diameter of the well was an inch lesser than that of the robot.
K. Senthil Kumar, Director, Centre for Aerospace Research, Anna University, who led a team of scientists to the spot over the weekend, said he was contacted by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters on Friday night to explore the possibility of rescuing Sujith using a special robot, developed with the help of a Chennai-based team of engineering students.
20-kg load
When informed about the idea, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, who was camping at the site of the rescue operation, requested the scientists to join the rescue work. “We reached Nadukattupatti on Saturday with the robot, which had two arms and was capable of lifting a 20-kg load easily. But unfortunately, the diameter of the borewell was an inch lesser than that of the robot, and we could not drop it down to Sujith, whose hands were clearly visible,” Dr. Kumar said.
Around 9 p.m. on Saturday, the technical team dropped a thermal camera to touch the fingers of the child. “After the system recorded 37 degrees Celsius, we immediately informed the Collector and other officials that Sujith could be alive but unconscious, since there was no bodily movement when another sophisticated camera was used earlier. Thermal cameras were successfully used to locate people alive and trapped under the debris at the site of the Moulivakkam apartment collapse and during the Uttarakhand floods (adults),” he said.
The team sensed that there was sufficient oxygen at that depth. “We are still having hope since we rescued a construction worker four days after he was buried under debris in Moulivakkam,” he added.
