Bengaluru: Two people died after falling into a dry borewell in Savadi village of Ron taluk in Gadag district on Wednesday morning. Rescue teams could retrieved the bodies only after a four-hour operation, involving over a hundred rescue workers.
The deceased are Shankarappa Banad (33), the owner of the farm where the borewell is situated, and labourer Basavaraj (30). Shankrappa's uncle died of shock after hearing the news. The government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
On Wednesday morning, Shankarappa and Basavaraj went to the farm to inspect the 200 ft borewell that had gone dry because of two years of drought. They were planning to re-drill and go deeper to access water.
They had removed the casing pipe of the borewell after digging the area surrounding it. Around 9 am, both of them slipped and fell into the borewell, and were stuck at the 30 feet level. Mud from out collapsed on them, and they might have died almost instantly, the officials said.
The officials used earthmovers and dug through the borewell to retrieve the bodies. But one of the bodies was stuck half-way and the authorities had to dig a parallel trench to access it. Over hundred rescue workers were involved, and a large crowd from surrounding villages had gathered at the spot. The police had to resort to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the curious onlookers.
“We conducted the operation with over 100 people, but could not rescue them. Immediately after they fell in, the mud had collapsed on them, and they might have died almost instantly. Digging a parallel trench was challenging as soil kept caving in," said Tahsildar Shivalinga Prabhu.
