Cash reward for giving information about unused borewells

Giving information about abandoned and open borewells in Punjab after a month from now will fetch a reward of Rs 5,000, said officials Thursday.

The reward was announced two days after the Punjab government ordered the closure of all open borewells in the state within a month.

Borewells have been frequently proving to be death traps for children all over India.

In a bid to ensure closure of all borewelle within the stipulated deadline in Punjab, it was also proposed to start criminal proceedings against persons, failing to seal their open borewells within a month.

The twin measures were proposed to prevent the recurrence of Sangrur-like incident in which a two-year-old toddler died after slipping into a 150-foot-deep borewell shaft and remaining stuck in it for 109 hours.

Mission Tandrust Punjab Director K S Pannu Thursday asked all deputy commissioners in the state to rope in various departments to undertake immediate steps to plug in abandoned borewells.

Pannu, in an official release, also proposed criminal proceedings against persons, failing to seal their open borewells within a month.

Any mishap in such borewells should attract penalty against the owner of the land under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code," Pannu wrote in a letter to all DCs.

After a period of one month, Mission Tandrust Punjab shall give an advertisement asking the general public to give information about abandoned borewells still not filled and plugged.

The person giving the information will get a reward of Rs 5,000 after verification of information, Pannu said.

An exercise to close all the open borewells is already going on in the state. Already over 100 open boreweslls were closed in various parts of the state.

Pannu also asked DCs to start an awareness campaign to make farmers aware of the dangers of unplugged borewells.

Mission Tandrust Punjab, set up by the state government, is aimed atproviding clean drinking water, improve air quality, consuming unadulterated food products and improve the people's health.