Open borewells will invite criminal charge

Leaving borewell uncovered will now invite criminal proceedings in Rajasthan. Getting tough on irresponsible farmers and drilling companies for leaving borewells open, the state government will now file cases against them.

The directives came following rising incidents of children falling into borewell. Eleven incidents have taken place this year alone, in which children have fallen into open borewells and got trapped inside the narrow pipes. A few of them were lucky to come out alive but a couple of children could not survive hunger and lack of oxygen.

Expressing concern about the loss of human life and sheer waste of public resources, home minister Gulab Chand Kataria, who also holds the department of disaster management and relief portfolio, has asked officials to take stern action against farmers and drilling companies if a borewell is found open. He also asked them to submit details of cases filed against guilty persons and progress report of action taken so far.

Mr Kataria asked officials for regular inspection of farms and filing of cases if borewell is found uncovered. He said that soon he will interact with district collectors, divisional commissioners and officials of public health engineering department to for effective action to stop these incidents.

Relief secretary Rohit Kumar said that the PHED is a nodal department in these incidents and according to the Supreme Court’s directives, cases can be registered against farmers and drilling companies even before the incident, if a borewell is found uncovered.