How many more should die? State still has 5 lakh abandoned borewells

It has  been 10 years since the state governmet directed to cap the abandoned borewells after the death of a boy Abhishek near Raichur in 2007. But there has been no achievement in this regard, so far.

The death of boy Abhishek at Neermanvi near Raichur had forced the government to take emergent steps to cap the abandoned borewells in the state. But even after that incident, many children lost their lives in these death traps but the government seems to be waiting for the right time to act.

As per the records, there are 25 lakh borewells in the state but there is no data to show that how many have been abandoned. For, till now only 2.27 lakh borewells have been capped so far. After the number of deaths increased, a mere 27,000 borewells were closed, reports Kannada Prabha. Till August 2014, as many as 1.93 lakh borewells were capped and in the later days, 27,161 borewells have been sealed. Records say that of the 25 lakh borewells, five lakh borewells are yet to be sealed.

Recently, six-year-old Kaveri was stuck at a depth of 20 feet after she fell into an abandoned borewell in Athani near Belagavi. Although, the Kaveri's death served as a grim reminder to the state government, unfortunately, it did not translate into action. Post-tragedy, the government has now decided to hold panchayat development officer and secretaries responsible for such tragedies. The government has said that they willl be penalised if any abandoned borewell is found in their area of duty. However, till now there are no reports such an action taken, so far.

• tragedy in borewells
• abandoned borewells