Sugarcane farmer Hanumantappa Hatti feels as trapped as his six-year-old son, Timmanna, stuck 150 ft down a borewell.
Sugarcane farmer Hanumantappa Hatti feels as trapped as his six-year-old son, Timmanna, stuck 150 ft down a borewell. Lonely, helpless, heartbroken and with little manoeuvrability, he has had to make a choice — between a son who is probably dead and the future of his family. And Hanumantappa has chosen to taken the painful second option. He has urged the authorities to stop rescue operations to bring out his son.
The father, who has been watching the rescue operations at his six-acre farm in Sulikeri village for three days now, said that he no longer hopes for his son’s survival.
“I know my son has died already and he will not come back. Therefore, I request the government with folded hands to stop the digging operation which is destroying my sugarcane field. My field is the only source of income for my family for which I have taken a Rs.12-lakh loan,” he said to presspersons on Tuesday.
He said he was aware of the fact that by making such a request, he may never see his son’s face again. Yet, concern for the future of his family has compelled him to take such a drastic decision.
Mentally devastated, the father said he has two daughters, and to secure their future, he wants the digging to stop immediately.
The rescue operations that began on Sunday in his sugarcane fields have created a huge trench and mountains of mud.
He said he has no problem, if the government uses specially-designed small machines which do not cause such havoc.
However, the government is yet to take a final call on his appeal. District in-charge Minister S.R. Patil has told the media that the decision would be taken only by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “As of now, we will continue the rescue operation,” Mr. Patil said.
Amid this, Madurai-based M. Manikandan, who has designed a special gadget for retrieving children from borewells, will be arriving to join the rescue operations. It may be noted that Mr. Manikandan had been to Nagathan village of Bijapur taluk on June 18 to rescue four-year-old girl, Akshata Malipatil, who had also fallen into a borewell. However, his gadget failed to retrieve her.
(The Hindu)
