Two buried alive as farmer tries to revive borewell

A farmer’s attempt to rejuvenate a borewell that had done dry left his son and a daily wage worker dead as they were buried alive after earth caved in at Savadi village of Ron taluk of Gadag district on Wednesday. Tragedy struck the family twice the same day, as farmer Basappa Banad’s elder brother, Sangappa Banad (uncle of the deceased), died of heart attack after hearing the tragic news. The tragedy occurred when Basappa Banad and his son Shankarappa and a farm worker Basappa were trying to remove the casing pipe of the borewell for repair. The earth around the casing pipe had been excavated and Shankarappa and Basappa were trying to remove the casing pipe when the earth caved in burying them alive. The father was reportedly rescued by shepherds who were near the field. On getting information, Fire and Emergency Services personnel rushed to the spot. Nearly 50 personnel and five earth-movers were pressed into service as Deputy Commissioner of Gadag Manoj Jain and Superintendent of Police Santosh Babu monitored the six-hour operation. As a large number of people gathered near the site of tragedy, the police had a difficult time controlling the crowd while the rescue operation was on. Sources said that the farmer had got a 15-ft pit dug up for removing the casing pipe and getting the borewell repaired when the earth caved in. The deceased were stuck 40 ft below ground making their chances of survival feeble. After the six-hour-long operation, the bodies were removed. One of the bodies was in a severed condition. The death news of Shankarappa reportedly shocked his uncle Sangappa Banad who died as a result. The Gadag district administration announced an immediate compensation of ₹ 25,000 each to the families of the deceased. Following the mishap, the district administration is also initiating awareness programmes on precautions to be taken while repairing defunct borewells.