8-Year-Old Boy Dies After Falling Into Open Borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha

Rescue operations by NDRF and SDRF teams went on for nearly 24 hours, but Lokesh Ahirwar could not be saved.

An eight-year-old boy named Lokesh Ahirwar died after falling into a 60-foot open borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district on Tuesday, 14 March. His body was recovered after a rescue operation that lasted for nearly 24 hours.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

An eight-year-old boy named Lokesh Ahirwar died after falling into a 60-foot open borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district on Tuesday, 14 March. His body was recovered after a rescue operation that lasted for nearly 24 hours.

Lokesh, as per official statements, was stuck at a depth of 43 feet in the borewell.

Rescue teams comprising one National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and three State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams dug a pit parallel to the borewell and built a tunnel between the two pits in their attempt to rescue Lokesh.

"We completed the rescue operation within 24 hours but it's very unfortunate that we couldn't save him. The CM (Shivraj Singh Chauhan) has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to his family. We will ensure that all borewells are closed within seven days," Vidisha Collector Umshankar Bhargav told the media on Wednesday, 15 March.

What happened?

On Tuesday, 14 March, Lokesh was in the company of his parents and grandmother at an agricultural field in Kherkhedi Pathar village when he fell into the borewell.

Lokesh's father Dinesh Ahirwar said they were working in the field and Lokesh was playing under the shade of a tree with other children.

"We didn't know that there was an open borewell. This is not our field; we came here to work as labourers. My son was playing with other children when he fell into the borewell. The other kids playing with him told us what happened. We even tried to get him up by using a saree as a rope, but it didn't work."

Dinesh Ahirwar

24-Hour Rescue Operation

The incident is said to have occurred at around 10-10:30 am on Tuesday and the district administration was informed right away, following which the NDRF and SDRF teams were deployed for the rescue.

Speaking to the media earlier, the Vidisha Collector said that they responded to the calls immediately and deployed the rescue teams.

"We dug a parallel pit of around 51 feet and then completed the tunnel that bridged both the pits. Initially, the digging of the parallel pit was very smooth, but as the teams dug deeper, we realised that the lower layer was filled with rocks. The rescue operation took a little longer to complete because of this."

Umashankar Bhargav

On Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan's office tweeted that he was in constant touch with the officials and that all efforts were being taken to safely rescue Lokesh.

"Efforts are being made on a war footing to get the boy Lokesh out safely. NDRF and SDRF teams are running the rescue operation. I am sure the child will be brought out safely soon."

CM's tweet