New Delhi:

A race against time ensued in Rajasthan’s Dausa as authorities pressed a piling rig machine into action to dig a 150-feet-deep tunnel near a borewell where a five-year-old boy is trapped since December 9.

Aryan fell into the open borewell on Monday evening while playing at a farm in Kalikhad village, while rescue operations were launched around 4 pm. Rescuers were deployed several earthmovers and tractors to dig a parallel hole, while also using rope and other equipment to attempt pulling out the child. Oxygen is being supplied to the child through a pipe, whose condition is said to be stable, as per news agency ANI. On Tuesday night, an Xcmg 180 piling rig was deployed at the rescue site.

42 hours into the operation to rescue Aryan, a tunnel has been dug up till a depth of 70 feet amid temperature falling to a minimum 8 degrees Celsius. Earlier, the umbrella technique, also used during the Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operations in November 2023, did not succeed in retrieving the child.

“National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and Civil Defence teams have also reached the spot,” Dausa District Magistrate said.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan minister and BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena reached the site of operations where Aryan’s condition is being monitored through a camera. “These incidents happen across the country. There is direction from the government but no law. A law should be made regarding covering borewells,” he said.

In September, a two-year-old girl was rescued from a 35-foot open borewell in the Bandikui area of Dausa after 18 hours of rescue operations by NDRF and SDRF. The girl had been stuck at a depth of 28 feet and a similar approach was initiated to rescue her.