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Ambala, July 1
A four-year-old boy who fell into a 220-foot-deep borewell in Haryana’s Ambala district died despite a 21-hour rescue operation carried out by multiple agencies. The child, identified as Nirvair Singh, was pulled out early Wednesday morning and taken to Civil Hospital in Ambala Cantonment, where doctors confirmed that he had died.
According to hospital authorities, Nirvair was rescued at around 3.40 am after an extensive operation conducted by the National Disaster Response Force, the Army and the district administration. Medical Officer Dr Rishipal Singh said a preliminary examination was carried out immediately after the child was brought out, but no signs of life were found. He was then shifted to the hospital, where further medical examination confirmed his death. The body has been kept in the mortuary for a postmortem examination, which will determine the exact cause and time of death.
The incident occurred at around 6.30 am on Tuesday in Dhaneora village when Nirvair accompanied his father, Manjit Singh, to the fields to deliver food to his grandfather. While his father was working on the farm, the child reportedly wandered away and fell into an uncovered borewell. Officials said the wet soil around the opening is believed to have collapsed as he leaned forward, causing him to fall into the opening.
Manjit Singh said the family rushed to the borewell after hearing a loud sound and initially tried to rescue the child themselves before informing the authorities about an hour later. Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh Tomar and other officials reached the site soon after, following which a large-scale rescue operation was launched. Officials said intermittent rainfall also hampered the rescue efforts.
Deputy Commissioner Tomar said the administration had directed the police to initiate action against those responsible for leaving the borewell uncovered. He also appealed to farmers to ensure abandoned borewells are properly sealed to prevent similar incidents.
Haryana Cabinet Minister Anil Vij visited the rescue site on Tuesday evening and met the bereaved family. Village Sarpanch Kaptan Singh said Nirvair had recently enrolled in a nursery school in nearby Bhanokhedi village and had returned from his maternal grandparents’ home only a day before the incident as his school was scheduled to reopen on July 1. The incident comes weeks after a four-year-old boy in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district was rescued safely after falling into a borewell. It also recalls the widely reported 2006 rescue of five-year-old Prince, who was pulled out alive after a 48-hour operation in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district.
The latest tragedy has once again raised concerns over the safety of abandoned borewells and the need for strict enforcement to ensure they are properly sealed.
