India and it's tragic borewell deaths; a disturbing data indeed

Hyderabad: After over 75 hours of the intense rescue operation, Sujith Wilson, the two-year-old from Nadukkattupatti in Tiruchi was found dead, after he fell in a 600 to 1000 ft deep borewell on Friday. The entire nation was in tears as the two-year-old could not be saved, and Twitter was trending with the hashtag #RIPSujith. India has witnessed many such cases where innocent victims lost their lives due to carelessness and lack of attention towards the proper closing of borewells.

Data on Borewell Death

According to the NDRF report on standard operating procedure on borewell incident response, India is the biggest user of groundwater in the world, drawing around 230 cubic kilometres per year. There are approximately 27 million borewells in India. Reports say that since 2009, more than 40 children fell into borewells, and on an average 70% of conventional child rescue operations fail. A statewise data of borewell incidents reveal Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat with the highest number of incidents at 17.6% each. Next in the list was Rajasthan with 11.8 %, Karnataka with 8.8%, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra with 5.9%, and Assam with 2.9%. Tamil Nadu being one of the states with the highest percentage of borewell incidents is a clear indication of the tragic incident like that of Sujith's.

Speaking of the most listed causes of borewell accidents, the following reasons top the list.

1. Fell while playing

2. Unclosed borewell

3. Using temporary covers

4. Blocking visibility

5. No warning signboards

6. No immediate response has taken

NDRF has successfully carried out rescue operations across the country from 2014 to 2018 out of which, in 15 operations the victims were alive and in 16 they were dead. In Maharashtra alone 10 borewell accidents happened, followed by nine in Rajasthan and three both in Karnataka and Gujarat.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">So heartbreaking to hear about our little warrior <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SujithWilson?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SujithWilson</a> passing away after fighting so hard. My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. May god give them strength in this hour of grief. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIPSujith?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIPSujith</a> <a href="https://t.co/0uPXMx6HRM">pic.twitter.com/0uPXMx6HRM</a></p>— Vivek Anand Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) <a href="https://twitter.com/vivekoberoi/status/1189085884206870529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Two horrifying borewell incidents which shook the nation earlier this year

Two-year-old Fatehveer Singh, who had fallen into a 150-feet deep borewell in Sangrur in June 2019 was rescued after the almost 109-hour-long rescue operation. He was declared dead on being taken to a hospital in Chandigarh.

Four-year-old Seema, who had fallen into a 400-feet deep borewell in Jodhpur in April 2019 was rescued after a 14-hour-long rescue operation. However, she died during the rescue operation.