We Indians have a peculiar habit to show our resentment and anguish when we come across a pathetic scene and we express great annoyance against the very system and shout at the top of our voice our disgust against this corrupt political system and politicians. The very next moment one can find all of them getting fully involved with their own day to day activities without bothering to find a solution for the heart breaking scene they had seen. Let me be clear, I am referring to the small children falling into the open abandoned borewells and then losing their precious lives..
The whole nation watched how Prince, a boy who slipped into an open borewell on 21st July, 2006 in a village in Shabad, Haryana and the whole country, I learn even the President of India, without a bat an eyelid watched on the TV the continued telecast of the rescue operation and heaved a sigh of relief when he was rescued alive. The whole nation was happy as though their own next of kin has been given a new lease of life. I am mentioning about that incident to say what happened thereafter. If we see the series of boys falling into these open dried up abandoned borewells, would make one conclude that our concern remains so long as the danger subsists and once the danger subsides, we go about with our own work without taking any decisions as to how to stop recurrence of such incidents again and again.
It is not necessary to recapitulate several such incidents which have occurred after Prince’s incident. Let us refer to the incident of February 6, 2007, a two-year old boy Amit fell in a 56-feet open borewell in a village near Katni (MP) and died. On March 9, 2007, three-year old Arti Chavada fell in an open borewell in Karmadia (Gujarat) and died. Nine-year old Sandeep died when he fell in a 60-feet deep open borewell in Raichur (Karnataka) in April 2007. On April 7,2007, a five-year-old died after slipping into an open borewell in Mehsana (Gujarat). On March 25, 2008, a three-year old girl Vandana fell in a 160-feet deep open borewell in Tehra village near Agra. Adsar village in Bikaner district (Rajasthan) witnessed the death of a two-year old girl named Sarika who had fallen in a 155-feet deep open borewell on April 7, 2007. The same day, a two-year old girl Kinjal Man Singh Chauhan fell in an open borewell in Madeli village (Gujarat) and died. On June 17, 2007, an open borewell in Shiroor village (Pune, Maharashtra) claimed the life of a five-year old child. Six-year old Suraj lost his life when he fell in a 180-feet deep borewell in Nimada village (Jaipur, Rajasthan) on July 4, 2007. On August 4, 2007, six-year old Kartik died when he slipped in a 200-feet deep open borewell in Botala Gudur village. On June 6, 2009, a girl by name Anju fell into a 50ft. deep borewell in Moradi village, Dausa District, rajasthan. On 5th November, 2009a 5 year old boy feel into 40 ft. deep borwell in Jagatapura Village of Jaipur, Rajasthan. Gain in November 2009, a 4 year boy by name Sahil fell into borewell in Shahpura of Jaipur. In this way, every year several children die or are rescued at a very heavy cost from the abandoned or dried up borewells
It is surprising that we have not yet enacted any law or methods to identify these abandoned or dried up borewells. There are several borewells all over the country which were abandoned immediately after they were drilled as they could not get sufficient water. Till the 1960s, the borewell as a technology did not exist in India; that it required persuasion to get decision makers and farmers to appreciate the fact that lots of water could come up through a four-and-a-half-inch diameter pipe which went deep into the ground. That was in the 1960s but now one cannot imagine a house or a field without a borewell. The diameter of the pipe has now increased from 4†to 8†and the pipe which used to go 80 feet down; now it goes 1,500 feet in some places and provides water for survival. It is all right so long the borewells yield water and once they dry up or is considered as ‘useless,’ then they become death trap for unwary children who go near it unknowingly.
To avoid such death traps, the only way is to identify these abandoned wells and then close them. It is easier said than done. They are in the remote parts of villages and some are in fields and in some places bushes must have covered them and may not be able to detect them. Still I feel that one should be able to take the help of Panchayath Secretaries of all the Grama Panchayath spread over the entire country. It is one of the best networks available in our country which works also well. We should make these Village Secretaries to identify these wells in their respective villages and take steps to close them. If not closing them, at least they should be told how they can be covered. Someone suggested plants should be planted near them so that routes when spread, the hole will be closed. Any way there should be a way to close them. Hope the Government will act in this matter as expeditiously as possible before some more young lives are lost deep in the dark hole.