Rescue operations of Sujith Wilson in final stage but presence of hard rocks making digging difficult: Tamil Nadu Health Minister Vijaya Bhaskar

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Vijaya Bhaskar on Monday morning stated that though the operations to rescue two-year-old Sujith Wilson is at the final stage, the digging is getting difficult due to the presence of hard rocks in the area. Bhaskar said that the original plan was to reach a depth of 90 feet by Monday morning but the hard rocks are hampering drilling efforts and as a result, the digging has reached up to 40 feet.

He said, "Rescue operation is in the final stage. As per the original plan, we should have reached 90ft by now, but the hard rocks are hampering drilling efforts and we have only drilled up to 40ft. Even the heavy machinery that we have on-site are struggling to drill the rocky surface. We are in talks with experts regarding alternate plans of action. We are in the final stage of taking a decision."

State Transport Secretary Radhakrishnan added that the state government will bear all the expenses necessary for rescuing the child.

"Tamil Nadu government will bear all expenses necessary for rescuing the child. We are using German equipment provided by Larsen & Toubro (L&T). There is not enough space in the well to use balloon technology to rescue the child. Given that there is a prediction for light rain, we will still continue to work with necessary arrangements. When we tried drilling at a different spot, we encountered rocks there as well."

Tamil Nadu Minister C. Vijayabaskar on operation to rescue 2-year-old #sujithwilson : Due to presence of hard rocks in the area, digging is difficult. Rescue operation is in the final stage. https://t.co/S2WoaFWIDj pic.twitter.com/VQXeWHGHeH — ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2019

#TamilNadu: Operation to rescue 2-year-old #sujithwilson underway in Nadukattupatti, Tiruchirappalli. Tamil Nadu Minister C. Vijayabaskar has said that the rescue operation is in the final stage. pic.twitter.com/mz1JPeX9iT — ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2019

Tamil Nadu: According to Revenue Department Commissioner, a pit has been dug up to 40 feet so far, near the borewell in Nadukattupatti, where operation is underway to rescue 2-yr-old Sujith Wilson. pic.twitter.com/72XPW4uuKO — ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2019

Over 65 hours on, efforts are still underway to rescue Wilson who fell into a 25-feet deep borewell in Nadukattupatti of Tiruchirappalli district on October 25. 

More than six crews from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as well as the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were deployed to rescue Wilson. A team of Madurai fire and rescue department workers is present at the site.

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam visited the rescue operation site. His son and Theni Lok Sabha MP OP Raveendranath Kumar also accompanied the Deputy CM. The father and son duo is closely monitoring the situation. Panneerselvam also visited the child`s parents and consoled them. Later, he sat on the rescue site to monitor the situation. 

The toddler fell into the borewell while he was playing near his house at 5.30 pm on Friday. Later, he slipped further down and is now stuck at 100 feet into the borewell. After several failed attempts, a new pit was dug in the tunnel near the deep well. According to officials at the site, the ONGC`s rig machine was called for this but it got damaged due to presence of rocks. Later, a second high-speed engine was brought for drilling in order to rescue the toddler from Ramanathapuram.

Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, Revenue Minister RB Udayakumar and Commissioner of Revenue Administration J Radhakrishnan also visited the spot, directing the authorities concerned to try their best to rescue the infant at earliest.