Hope disappeared as dusk set in on Monday and the floodlights spewed out harsh light on the areas surrounding the abandoned borewell outside Manchal village in Ranga Reddy district, into which little Girija had fallen accidentally on Sunday
Women in the Malga family tried to make Girija’s grandmother, Malga Ilamma, eat a few morsels as she was tired, having sobbed continuously since Sunday morning. Girija’s grandfather Nagaiah and father Ilaiah were aimlessly wandering around shaking their heads in desperation at the frantic efforts of the rescue officials.
Nagaiah and Ilamma have five daughters, of which Girija’s mother, Sunitha, died about two years ago. The others include Rajitha, Shyamala, Saritha and Varamma. It was Saritha whom Ilaiah married again, thus making her Girija’s stepmother.
The entire Malga family that belongs to Kuruma caste (Yadava community) is very poor and has just one acre of cultivable land, the same place that has the abandoned borewell. With no irrigation facility, it is still fallow and the family members struggle to make a living as tenant farmers.
Meanwhile, the rescue operation that went on for 30 hours still failed to yield result and even late on Monday night, rescuers were still battling rocky layers surrounding the spot, where they suspect little Girija to have been trapped, about 43 feet beneath the ground.
At 9.30 pm, the rescuers needed small drills and officials were rushed to procure the same. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Singareni Collieries’ teams had only large bore drills that would not serve the purpose as they had reached a couple of feet away from the exact spot.
What was needed was small, high precision tools to methodically chip away the rock, reach inside the bore and see if they could find the girl. As time passed, the relatives were too tired even to vocally vent their sorrow and sobbed quietly.
