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SUPREME COURT COMMENTS ON CHILDREN DEATHS DUE TO ABANDOED BOREWALLS
SC ORDER TO COVER ABANDONED BOREWELLS
TG, 29/11/2009
New Delhi, Nov. 28: The Supreme Court has asked state governments to cover all abandoned borewells and tubewells with wire meshes or lids to prevent children from falling into them, enforcing a basic safeguard that local administrations should have ensured on their own without being prodded.
The state governments have also been asked to fence functioning wells as a preventive step.
The orders came three years after a child named Prince fell into a borewell in Haryana, triggering live television broadcast that held the country on tenterhooks till he was rescued several hours later. However, several children, such as four-year-old Sonu of Agra, since then have died after falling into holes left uncovered.
The court directive is particularly relevant in northern India where the diameter of the wells has been increasing over the years.
“States (governments) will take steps to see that all abandoned borewells and tubewells are capped by wire meshes or any other means once they are not in use or are abandoned,” a bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, said on Friday”
“This is a problem which has a very simple solution,” the Chief Justice said. “You just have to put a cap or a mesh on it,” he said.The apex court was acting on a letter that had drawn its attention to the problem in northern India. The court had converted this letter which came by post into a public interest litigation.Borewells and tubewells are widely used in Punjab and Haryana for irrigation because of the falling water table. Often, the water sources have to be abandoned after a short span of time and others dug at nearby spots, leaving the area littered with death traps.The apex court order came after the amicus curiae in the case, P.S. Patwalia, pointed out that most of these wells were dug by state-run irrigation departments.“Earlier, these were narrow holes. Now they are broader at 18 to 24 inches. Most of these are left uncapped once they fall into disuse,” he said, accusing state governments of failing in their duty to close them.
Appearing for the Union government, additional solicitor-general Indira Jaisingh said the government had set up a committee to look into the problem.“Its suggestions have been received. The Union government will take action to tackle the problem based on some of the suggestions.”
The court then adjourned the hearing to enable the states to state their position on the recommendations.President Pratibha Patil had earlier expressed concern over the deaths of several children after they had fallen into abandoned borewells and had asked the ministries of rural development, and water resources and the Central Ground Water Board to deal with the problem.She had written to the ministries after the death of Sonu. He was trapped in a 150-ft-deep borewell and died after 96 hours.
CAP ALL ABANDONED BOREWELLS TO PREVENT DEATH OF CHILDREN: SC
GOVT, DRILLING AGENCY TO BE LIABLE FOR ANY MISHAP
TOI 12/02/2010
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued strict directions to the chief secretaries of all states to activate the administrative machinery upto the block level to cap within 12 weeks all abandoned open borewells, which in the past have been death traps for numerous toddlers and children.
The SC’s direction virtually makes the Central government’s guidelines to prevent future mishaps in open borewells a legally enforceable mechanism.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices B S Chauhan and C K Prasad accepted the suggestions of additional solicitor general Indira Jaising and amicus curiae S S Patwalia to accept the guidelines, which importantly put the criminal and civil liability on the drilling agency. “Drilling agencies, whether government, semigovernment or private, should be made responsible in case such accidents happen during the course of drilling, construction of borewells and in their abandonment,” the guidelines said. The Bench asked the collectors and block-level officers to conduct a survey of the borewells dug in the area under their jurisdiction and take measures to seal the abandoned borewells. The work has to be complete in 12 weeks.
The central committee had suggested to the apex court that “the action that arises on account of negligence may be subject matter of both civil as well as criminal action. It is for the district collector, district magistrate and sarpanch or concerned officer of the department to take such legal action by initiating criminal or civil proceedings, as may be deemed fit, in the circumstances.”
The traumatic wait of the small children awakened the governments to death traps dotting the agricultural belt but the lack of action had made the apex court take suo motu notice .
Much after the live telecast of the rescue operation of Prince from a borewell in Shahbad in Haryana on July 21, 2006, similar incidents continued to occur.
On March 25, 2008, a three-year-old girl, Vandana, fell in a 160-feet-deep open borewell in village Tehra near Agra. On 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, threeyear-old Arti Chavada fell in an open borewell in Karmadia (Gujarat) and died. Nine-year-old Sandeep died when he fell in a 60-feetdeep 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).
Village Adsar in Bikaner district (Rajasthan) witnessed the death of a twoyear-old girl named Sarika who had fallen in a 155-feetdeep open borewell on April 7, 2007. The same day, a two-year-old girl, Kinjal Man Singh Chauhan, fell in an open borewell in village Madeli (Gujarat) and died. On June 17, 2007, an open borewell in village Shiroor (Pune, Maharashtra) claimed the life of a five-year-old child. Six-yearold Suraj lost his life when he fell in a 180-feet-deep borewell in village Nimada (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 village Botala Gudur (AP).
SUPREME COURT ASKS STATES TO CAP ALL ABANDONED BOREWELLS
HI 12/02/2010
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked all the States to cap all discarded and abandoned borewells in their territories and to properly fence all working wells to prevent small children falling into them.
A three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice C.K. Prasad gave this direction on a letter written to the CJI in February 2009 about a number of small children falling into open borewells resulting in their death.The letter was treated as a public interest petition and notice was issued to all the States.In a brief order the Bench said the owner of the land/premises, before taking any steps for constructing borewell / tubewell must inform in writing at least 15 days in advance to the authorities concerned in the area, ie. District Collector/District Magistrate / Sarpanch of the Gram panchayat, as the case might be about the construction of the borewell / tubewell.
The Bench said during construction barbed wire fencing must be erected or any other suitable barrier should be put around the well.The Bench said the abandoned borewells should be filed by clay/sand/boulders / pebbles/ etc from bottom to ground level.In rural areas, the monitoring and execution were to be done by panchyat raj institutions and in urban areas by the municipal corporation / Public Health department.In its affidavit, the Centre said that the District Collector/District Magistrate / Sarpanch should take legal action by initiating criminal or civil proceedings against those responsible for any accident.They must ensure that all safety measures were taken by the agencies during the construction of borewell / tubewell.
KIDS’ DEATHS BY FALLING IN BOREWELLS
CENTRE SHOOTS OFF LETTER TO STATE CMS
TR, 23/06/2010
Days after three-year-old Dilrajpreet Kaur of Batala (Punjab) died after falling in a borewell at her village, the Centre has shot off letters to the State Chief Ministers, asking them to frame guidelines for managing such structures.
Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, in a reminder to the Chief Ministers of the Supreme Court directions in this regard, asked them to ensure safety nets right from the district to the block level. “There have been several distressing cases of young children falling into borewells. In many cases, children have died due to contractors’ negligence. Thus, proper guidelines must be framed to ensure that abandoned borewells or those under construction are adequately manned,” Tirath wrote in the letter.
Enquiries made by The Tribune revealed in the last two years, 20 children had died after falling into unmanned borewells. Of these, 10 cases had been reported in Rajasthan; three in Karnataka, two in Maharashtra, one each in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and most recently in Punjab (on June 3). The issue first made headlines in 2006 when five-year-old Prince from the Shahabad area of Haryana was rescued after massive operations. He had fallen into a 53-ft deep and 1.5-ft wide shaft. Dilrajpreet of Batala was not so lucky. She died in a 200-ft deep and two-ft wide borewell as rescue operations by the Army failed.
The SC, in its judgment on the sorry trend, said district commissioners would be responsible for not filling up abandoned ditches. A Bench headed by former Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan had observed on this matter: “Information on all such data (open borewells) is to be maintained in the respective district collectorate and block development office of the state.’’
The apex court also said if a borewell or tube well was abandoned at any stage, a certificate from the Department of Groundwater or Public Health or Municipal Corporation or the contractors concerned would have to be obtained after properly capping for safety so that small children did not fall into them.
Few states have complied with the SC orders so far. Maharashtra issued guidelines only two days ago for the construction of borewells. It has made it mandatory for people to inform in writing at least 15 days in advance to the authorities concerned in the area about construction of the borewell. Maharashtra guidelines add that the drilling agency should be registered and a sign board installed near the construction site, displaying the address of the agency and owner of the well. During construction, the well should be surrounded by barriers and fencing, the guidelines add.
BOREWELL DEATHS: SC ULTIMATUM TO CHIEF SECYS IT TAKES SERIOUS NOTE OF STATE GOVTS’ FAILURE TO CAP OPEN BOREWELLS DESPITE ITS ORDER IN FEB.
TOI, 10/07/2010
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday warned that states’ chief secretaries will be answerable to it for failure to implement the strict guidelines issued in February to cap within three months all abandoned open borewells, which, in the past, had been deathtraps for children.Referring to the SC’s direction virtually making the central government’s guidelines to prevent future mishaps in open borewells a legally enforceable mechanism, senior advocate P S Patwalia informed the court that it had not been taken seriously and that another borewell death had been reported from Punjab on June 3. A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar asked Patwalia to make a separate application holding the state chief secretary a party. “This (the deaths) will not stop unless we take action,” the SC bench said while adjourning the matter for four weeks.
As per the guidelines and the SC order the machinery was to be activated to the block level to detect open borewells and importantly, it put the criminal and civil liability on the drilling agency for abandoned borewells. “Drilling agencies, whether government, semigovernment or private, should be made responsible in case such accidents happen during the course of drilling, construction of borewells and in their abandonment,” the central government’s guidelines said.
The court had asked the collectors and block-level officers to conduct a survey of borewells dug in the area under their jurisdiction and take measures to seal the abandoned ones.
The work had to be completed in 12 weeks, the court had said in February 2010. The heart-wrenching traumatic wait of children inside suffocating narrow wells beamed live into the living rooms of citizens had awakened the governments to the deathtraps dotting the agricultural belt of the country, but lack of action on their part had made the apex court take suo motu notice of the tragic incidents.
Much after the live telecast of the rescue operation of Prince from a borewell in Shahbad in Haryana on July 21, 2006, similar incidents continued to occur.
SC MODIFIES ORDER ON BOREWELLS AND TUBEWELLS
NIE, 07/08/2010
REGISTRATION OF ALL DRILLING AGENCIES, VIZ, GOVT/SEMI GOVT/PRIVATE IS MANDATORY
IN the case relating to young children falling into borwells and tubewells, the Supreme Court has on Friday modified its earlier order of February 11, 2010 to include the Ground Water Authority where Ground Water Act is enacted, for the borewell owner to register himself.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia, Justice K S Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar, on an impleadment petition filed by All Kerala Borewells / Drilling Contractors Association, clarified that when there is a Ground Water Act, the concerned authority must be 'the very authority' under the said Act for registration of drilling agency and for monitoring the digging work of tubewells.
Senior counsel Rajeev Dhawan and advocate V K Biju told the Bench that when there is the State Ground Water Authority, the land owner should approach only the authority under the Ground Water Act instead of approaching several authorities.The apex court had passed an order on February 11.
The order stated that having regard to the number of incidents that have taken place during the recent past and immediate need for preventing such incidents recurring in future, we direct that the following safety measures are to be observed
by all the states:(i) "The owner of the land/premises, before taking any steps for constructing bore well/ tube well must inform in writing at least 15 days in advance to the concerned authorities in the area, i.e., district Collector/ district Magistrate/Sarpanch of the gram panchayat/ concerned officers of the Department of Ground Water/ Public Health/ Municipal Corporation, as the case may be, about the construction of bore well/tube well.
(ii) Registration of all the drilling agencies, viz, govt/semi govt/ private etc. should be mandatory with the district administration.
(iii)Erection of signboard at the time of construction near the well.
(iv)Erection of barbed wire fencing or any other suitable barrier around the well during construction.
(v) Construction of cement/concrete platform measuring 0.50 x 0.50x 0.60 meter (0.30 meter above ground level and 0.30 meter below ground level) around the well casing.
(vi) Capping of well assembly by welding steel plate or by providing a strong cap to be fixed to the casing pipe with bolts & nuts.
(vii)In case of pump repair, the tube well should not be left uncovered.
(viii)Filling of mud pits and channels after completion of works.
(ix)Filling up abandoned borewells.
‘ENFORCE’ SAFETY NORMS TO PREVENT BOREWELL MISHAPS
TR 03/07/2012
Rattled by Maahi’s tragic death in an abandoned borewell in Gurgaon district last month, Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery today directed senior officers of various departments to ensure strict compliance of the instructions regarding safety measures while digging borewells to avert such incidents.Presiding over a meeting convened to ensure strict compliance of safety measures while digging borewells and undertaking other excavations, he said two committees should be constituted to prepare draft safety instructions on the technical and statutory aspects. While the Public Works (Building and Roads) Department would prepare draft instructions on technical aspects, the Labour Department would prepare draft instructions on statutory aspects. Soon after finalizing the draft, a copy of the instructions should be forwarded to all Deputy Commissioners for implementation.
He said a survey should be conducted by the Urban Local Bodies Department to cover open manholes in cities.Cash reward for info on borewellsGurgaon: The Gurgaon district administration on Monday announced a cash reward of Rs 500 and a commendation certificate to the person informing about any illegal abandoned open borewell in the district.The information can be given on the Police Control Room (PCR) phone number 100 or on the Deputy Commissioner’s camp office No 0124- 2303333. If the informer so desires, his/her name would be kept confidential.This decision was taken at a meeting of the District Advisory Committee on Borewells held under Deputy Commissioner PC Meena here on Monday.Officials from HUDA, Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, HSIIDC and Municipal Committees were told to get a survey conducted in their respective areas and ensure that there was no open borewell or dry well or open pit etc.The officers have also been directed to give a certificate within a week that there is no open borewell in the areas under their jurisdiction.
STATE GOVTS IGNORE SC RULING ON ABANDONED BOREWELLS
PI, 23/09/2013
State authorities have learnt no lesson from frequent incidents of children falling into abandoned borewells and drilled wells.This despite the fact that two years ago Supreme Court had asked the State Governments to follow its guidelines on to avoid such tragic accidents.
However, so far not a single State has submitted any action taken report (ATR) to the Centre on safety measures to prevent children from falling in the open pits, said a senior official in the Water and Sanitation Ministry.They are also being asked to give details on number of unused wells and borewells in their region. He said that the Ministry after the Supreme Court order in 2010 had directed State Governments to take appropriate action.“We have been constantly writing to the State Government officials to send us action taken report in the matter. But unfortunately they are silent on the issue. Either they have not implemented the Supreme Court guidelines or just simply not keen to share the safety measures undertaken with us,” the official rued.Thanks to the State’s apathy that it seems a long unending wait for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) seeking follow up in the matter. Annoyed at the undue delay, it has been lodging complaints with the Ministry on the non-compliance of the State Governments and its concerned authorities.With borewells and drilled wells repeatedly proving hazardous to kids, Supreme Court had come out with detailed guidelines according to which, district collector should be empowered to verify that rules are followed with right spirit.
OTHER STATES HIGH COURTS
SEAL ALL BOREWELLS AT CONSTRUCTION SITES: HC
HT, 01/08/2012
THE ORDER WILL HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON NEARLY 450 ONGOING PROJECTS, LICENCES FOR WHICH HAD BEEN ISSUED AFTER 2008
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday ordered the Haryana government to seal all borewells at construction sites in Gurgaon over the next two weeks and take action against erring builders for illegally using groundwater.The order will have an adverse effect on nearly 450 ongoing commercial and residential projects, the licences for which had been issued after 2008. Most of these developers had illegally dug up borewells to extract groundwater.Use of borewells for construction purposes is completely banned in Gurgaon.Experts said the realty sector is bound to take a major hit as the court has already restricted fresh licences for construction in Gurgaon earlier on July 16.Coming down heavily on the state government for not doing enough even though water levels had alarmingly gone down in the Millennium City, the division bench of justices Jasbir Singh and Rakesh Kumar Jain has also asked it to verify if all existing borewells were registered (for domestic purposes) and if meters were installed. If not, all illegal borewells shall have to be sealed, the court said.Dissatisfied with the replies filed by the town and country planning department and Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) over two PILs filed by residents of Gurgaon in 2009, the court on Tuesday asked the departments to file a consolidated reply on the next date of hearing on August 21.
It has sought the complete action plan to tackle the situation and long-term steps to be taken to fulfill water needs of Gurgaon.In court, the bench asked SS Dhillon, principal secretary, Haryana town and country planning department, who was the government representative along with other secretaries, “The area had been declared a black zone long ago. Have you ever asked the builder after visiting the site from where they were getting water? Where will the next generation go if we extract all the groundwater?”
On July 16, the court had restrained the government from giving fresh permission to builders and sought replies over the illegal use of groundwater during a resumed hearing on petitions on depleting water table by one Sunil Singh and Qutab Enclave Residents Welfare Association-DLF City in 2009.
HC: WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY MORE DEATHS IN BOREWELLS
25-04-2014 HINDU
Observing that it would not tolerate any more deaths in abandoned open borewells, the High Court of Karnataka on Monday directed the State government to submit a report on the status of such borewells and the result of the actions initiated by the State to close them.
“We would not tolerate even one death,” a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice Ashok B. Hinchigeri observed during the hearing of a PIL petition filed by the Karnataka State Legal Services’ Authority following the death of six-year-old Timmanna Hatti after he fell into a borewell at Sulikere village in Bagalkot district earlier this month.
‘HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA’
Observing that fatal accidents of children falling into borewells occurred only in India, the Bench stated that both parents and the public were responsible owing to their lack of seriousness.
Earlier, the government counsel told the Bench that the State had issued a directive to close all abandoned open borewells by August 31.
Meanwhile, the Bench made it clear that the government would have to come out with clear instructions based on the guidelines issued by the apex court in 2010 to prevent fatal accidents of children owing to them falling into abandoned borewells and tubewells.
The PIL alleged that the government “miserably” failed to implement the guidelines. The Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management Act), 2011 had no provisions that prescribed safeguards/guidelines for safety measures to be adhered to while constructing borewells, tubewells and other wells, it claimed.
Conclusion:
