Meet to prevent recurring deaths of children in borewells

Rattled by recurrence of several incidents of children dying after falling into unused borewell pits, the Tamil Nadu government today held a meeting of top officials to chalk out a strategy to prevent such incidents.
As a first step, it was decided to direct all District Collectors to take immediate steps to ensure that all abandoned borewell pits were properly closed, official sources said.
A meeting with all stakeholders, including rig operators would be held soon to sensitise them on the need to close pits properly if it did not yield water.
Stern measures, including a regulatory authority and possible legislative measures to ensure compliance of directions to ensure safety were discussed, it said.

In the past 10 days alone, three children fell into abandoned borewell pits in Tamil Nadu, of whom two died.
While three year old R Madhumitha of Villupuram died after being rescued, another 18-month-old boy D Sujith of Tiruvannamalai died today. A three-year-old boy was rescued in Tirunelveli on Apr 14.
The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary, Mohan Verghese Chunkath and other top officials, including Apurva Varma, Home Secretary and R C Kudawla, ADGP, Fire and Rescue Services.