After over 14 years the Supreme Court framed guidelines to prevent accidents involving abandoned borewells, the frequent spate of such incidents highlight the gaps in enforcement and creating awareness of the top court’s order.

The issue has come to the forefront again following the spate of such accidents leading to desperate and dramatic rescue operations. Most recently, a minor, Chetna, aged around three years fell into a borewell in the Kotputli-Behror district of Rajasthan, and the NDRF and SDRF were deployed to rescue her from the 150-feet-deep borewell with efforts still underway at the time of filing this report.

On December 9, Aryan, 5, fell into a 150-foot-deep borewell in Rajasthan’s Dausa while playing and after a 55-hour rescue operation, he was pulled out unconscious and was declared dead on arrival in a hospital. These instances occurred despite the top court’s comprehensive guidelines issued on February 11, 2010, aimed to prevent such tragedies. 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 guidelines included setting up barbed-wire fencing around the well during construction, using a steel plate cover fixed with bolts over the well assembly and filling up of borewells from the bottom to the ground level among others. The top court had also asked the authorities to give wide publicity to its order. “It has been brought to the notice of this court that in a number of cases, children had been trapped and fallen into borewells and tube wells or abandoned wells. These reports have been coming from various states. Accordingly, we took suo motu initiative and issued notice to the various states to take immediate measures to prevent such kinds of incidents,” the top court said in its order dated February 11, 2010.

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.  “Erection of a signboard at the time of construction near the well with the following details: (a) Complete address of the drilling agency at the time of construction or rehabilitation of well, (b) Complete address of the user agency or owner of the well,” the apex court had said. The top court also directed the barbed-wire fencing or any other suitable barrier be erected around the well during construction, a cement or concrete platform measuring 0.5x0.5x0.6 metre (0.30 metre above ground level and 0.30 metre below ground) built around the well casing and the well assembly capped using welded steel plates or a similar cover fixed with bolts. It had said in case of a pump repair, the tube well should not be left uncovered and mud pits and channels should be filled after completion of the work. “Fill up abandoned borewells by clay/sand/boulders/pebbles/drill cuttings, etc., from bottom to ground level,” said the top court, adding on completion of the drilling operations at a particular location, the ground conditions would be restored to its original form. “The guidelines above mentioned shall be given wide publicity through national television channels. A copy of this order be sent to the chief secretaries of all the states/union territories who shall forward the same to the district collectors of all districts of their respective state,” the bench said. On August 6, 2010, a three-judge bench led by former CJI S H Kapadia slightly modified the February 11, 2010 order and disposed of the petition.