Borewell norms only on paper: Activists
TIRUCHY: Though there are regulations already existing, directing to fill up the abandoned borewells, citing frequent incidents of death of children, it has been remaining only on paper, child rights activists, who recommended the government to frame a policy, have said.
According to data available, as many as 12 incidents took place in Tamil Nadu in the past 10 years and citing the number of unfortunate incidents in 2015, the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TNCPCR), under the chair of Saraswathi Rangaswami, had recommended the then state government to frame a regulation on the abandoned borewells and initiate stringent action against those who failed to follow the norms.
On April 30, 2015, the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply released an order and sent it to all the district collectors to ensure strict implementation of the norms. Accordingly, each district administration should ensure the person involved in digging borewells to follow the safety measures: The person should have a valid Certificate of Registration and should ensure not to leave the borewell open after completion and should fill up abandoned wells up to the ground level with clay, sand, boulder or any other suitable materials.
“The circular was sent to all the district administrations and the government asked to ensure monitoring those abandoned wells and initiate actions, but the response was not proper and only a few districts replied with their report and the others remained mute,” claimed advocate T Jayanthi Rani, the then member of the TNCPCR.
Jayanthi Rani charged that there is no proper reporting mechanism in the districts. “We had asked to keep a data after studying the status of borewells in the state but we failed to receive it. A few district administrations replied that they had instructed their BDOs to strictly have a study and initiate steps to close the abandoned borewells. But everything remains on paper,” she said and claimed that there was no physical verification made on the status of borewells in general and abandoned borewells in particular.