Rescuers in Harsinghpura village in Haryana’s Karnal district pulled out the body of a five-year-old girl nearly 18 hours after she fell into a 50-feet-deep borewell on Monday, November 4. The borewell belongs to her family. The incident is said to have occurred while she was playing in the fields in Gharaunda area on Sunday.
“After being pulled out from the borewell by the rescuers, she was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Karnal where doctors declared her brought dead,” India Today quoted SHO of Gharaunda police station, Inspector Sachin, as saying. A camera was being used to check on the child and oxygen was being supplied inside the borewell. In an attempt to give the child a sense of security, an audio recording of her parents’ voice was played.
However, in spite of all efforts, the child could not be saved. The incident comes just a week after a two-year-old boy, Sujith Wilson, who fell into a borewell in Tiruchirappalli district in Tamil Nadu, died. A rescue operation for Sujith was called off after his decomposed body was found inside the borewell.
India Today reported that before Sujith, at least ten other children had died in a similar way in Tamil Nadu over the past 15 years. The recent deaths once again brought to the fore the menace unsealed, and unused borewells unfold. It also throws light on a lack of awareness and public apathy towards taking safety measures.
Following several such incidents, in 2010, the Supreme Court had issued guidelines to prevent such incidents from happening. The apex court had ordered state governments to cover all abandoned borewells and tubewells with wire meshes or lids to prevent children from falling into them. As a preventive step, the state governments were also asked to fence functioning wells.
Due to the falling water level, borewells and tubewells are widely used in Punjab and Haryana for irrigation purposes. Once the borewell is no longer able to pump out water, it is abandoned. A new borewell is dug around without sealing the previous one. Such borewells become the death traps for kids.
Also Read: Two-Year-Old Sujith Wilson Dies In Borewell After Struggling For 80 Hours
