Tragedy Repeats: 10-Year-Old Boy Rescued From Madhya Pradesh Borewell Declared Dead; Hope Fades Away For Rajasthan Girl

The frequency of incidents of children falling into open borewells reveals serious lapses in enforcing the Supreme Court's 2010 guidelines aimed at preventing such tragedies.

Bhopal:A 10-year-old boy from Madhya Pradesh's Guna became yet another victim of open borewells in India as doctors declared him dead post his rescue from the 140-feet-deep pit on Sunday.

This morning authorities managed to pull out Sumit Meena 16 hours after he fell into the 140-feet-deep hole in Guna district's Pipliya village. Sumit had slipped into the open shaft of the borewell at around 5 pm on Saturday.

He was unresponsive when he was brought out at around 9.30 am on Sunday, the officials said. The boy was rushed to a hospital in Raghogarh on life support system, Guna Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Sinha told PTI.

"Sorry to say, he is no more," Guna district chief medical and health officer Dr Rajkumar Rishishwar told reporters at the hospital.

"The child was in the narrow borewell for the entire night in the chilly weather. His hands and feet were drenched and swollen. His clothes were also wet and mud was found in his mouth," he said. Doctors examined whether the body parts froze due to hypothermia (a condition that occurs when the core body temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit), he said.

Rescuers worked through the night and dug a parallel pit to reach the boy via a passage between the pit and borewell, Raghogarh Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh told PTI over phone from the spot earlier in the morning. The boy was trapped at a depth of 39 feet in the borewell, which is around 140-feet deep, Guna Collector Satendra Singh said on Saturday.

'What if she was collector madam's child?': Rajasthan girl trapped in borewell for 7 days now

The fresh incident comes amid a more gruelling rescue operation continuing for the past six days in Rajasthan's Kotputli-Behror district where three-year-old girl Chetna continues to be trapped in a 150-foot deep borewell.

Rescue operation continued on the 7th day in Rajasthan's Kotputli-Behror district where three-year-old girl Chetna is still trapped in a borewell with hopes fading away as far as her survival is concerned.

Her mother Dholi Devi is anxiously praying to god and the rescue team to pull out her daughter from a 150-foot deep borewell in which the child has been stuck since December 23.

With hours ticking by inexorably and hopes for her survival fading, rescuers are racing against time to pull out Chetna, who fell into the borewell while playing on her father's farm in Rajasthan's Kotputli-Behror district.

On Saturday, a video of a wailing Dholi Devi surfaced in which she could be seen pleading with folded hands to rescue her daughter. "It's been six days... My daughter is hungry and thirsty. What if the girl was collector madam's child? Would she let her be there for so long? Please get my daughter out as soon as possible," Dholi Devi pleaded.

Initially, the rescuers tried to pull out the girl using an iron ring attached to a rope, but all attempts failed. After two days of repeated attempts that fetched no results, a piling machine was brought to the spot on Wednesday and a parallel pit was dug.

After rain interrupted the rescue operation on Friday, a two-member team entered the pit on Saturday to dig a tunnel.

"An attempt is being made to reach Chetna through an L-shaped tunnel by digging a parallel pit near the borewell. Two NDRF jawans who have descended into the pit are doing manual drilling. We are watching them on camera. The equipment they are demanding from below are being sent to them," District Collector Kalpana Agarwal told reporters.

Local SHO Sarund Mohammad Imran said, "All possible efforts are being made (to rescue the girl). NDRF and SDRF teams are working continuously. Unfortunately, rain interrupted the rescue operation on Friday."

However, with each passing moment, the hopes to save the toddler are diminishing as the rescue team has been unable to supply food or water to Chetna. A team of doctors with an ambulance is stationed at the spot.

Frequent borewell accidents reveal serious lapses

The frequency of incidents of children falling into open borewells across the country reveals serious lapses in enforcing the Supreme Court's 2010 guidelines aimed at preventing such tragedies.

In 2010, the apex court issued guidelines to prevent such incidents, including fencing around borewells, steel covers and proper filling of abandoned borewells.

Further, the owner of the land or the premises, before taking any steps to construct borewells or tube wells, was directed to intimate in writing to the authorities concerned — district collector or district magistrate or sarpanch — or department officials of ground water or public health or municipal corporations at least 15 days in advance.

It was directed that registration of all drilling agencies, government, semi-government or private, should be mandatory.

The guidelines were issued after the bench led by former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, took a suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a letter petition bringing to its notice a spate of such accidents in the country on February 13, 2009.

"The SC's 2010 order was explicit about securing open borewells and filling abandoned ones. Yet enforcement remains weak, resulting in recurring tragedies," a legal expert told PTI.

Borewell incidents in 2024

Dec 9, Rajasthan:A five-year-old boy was rescued from a 150-feet-deep borewell in Rajasthan's Dausa after a gruelling 55-hour operation. He was rushed to a hospital in an unconscious state where he was declared dead.

Nov 20, Rajasthan: A four-year-old boy died after falling into a 160-foot borewell. He drowned in water present at 100 feet, despite a six-hour rescue effort.

Sept 19, Rajasthan: A two-year-old girl was successfully rescued after being trapped in a 35-foot borewell for 18 hours.

July 29, Madhya Pradesh: A three-year-old girl, Shoumya, fell into a 25-foot borewell in Singrauli and was rescued after five and a half hours, but later died in the hospital.

June 15, Gujarat: A toddler fell into a 45-50 foot borewell in Amreli. Despite a 15-hour operation, the child was declared dead after being rescued.

May 28, Rajasthan: A five-year-old boy fell into a 40-foot borewell in Laxmangarh, but was rescued safely after three hours.

April 12, Madhya Pradesh: A six-year-old boy died after being trapped for 45 hours in an open borewell in Manika village.

April 4, Karnataka: A two-year-old boy was rescued after being trapped for 20 hours in a borewell outside his house in Vijayapura.

Jan 2, Gujarat: A two-and-a-half-year-old girl, Angel Sakhra, died in a hospital after an eight-hour rescue operation from a 30-foot borewell in Devbhumi Dwarka.