Rescue Efforts Continue on Eighth Day to Free Three-Year-Old Girl Trapped in Rajasthan Borewell

Rescue operations entered their eighth day on Monday as three-year-old Chetna, remained trapped in a borewell in Kotputli, Rajasthan. The girl fell into the 700-foot-deep borewell on December 23 while playing, getting stuck at a depth of approximately 170 feet. Rescue teams have made substantial progress and are now close to reaching her.

By 6:30 a.m. on Monday, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel had managed to dig about 7 feet of tunnel, leaving only 1.5 feet of hard rock to drill through. However, progress has been slow due to the extreme hardness of the rock, with only 2-4 inches being drilled per hour. The temperature inside the tunnel has been rising as the team digs deeper, and the dust is making it difficult to breathe. The tunnel is being dug at a challenging angle through tough rock.

NDRF in-charge Yogesh Kumar Meena confirmed that experts have been called in to ensure the accuracy of the tunnel's alignment. Engineers from Hindustan Zinc Limited and local construction professionals have been consulted, while personnel from the Air Force and Border Security Force (BSF) have joined the efforts to verify the drilling's direction. All assessments indicate that the operation is on the correct path.

Chetna fell into the borewell at around 2 p.m. on December 23. Despite several attempts to rescue her with improvised methods, she was only raised by about 30 feet. Since the fall, Chetna has not had access to water, and there have been no signs of movement from her since the evening of December 24.