Two-And-A-Half-Year-Old Falls into 350-Foot Borewell, Dies

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 13th April 2015

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  Police and rescue workers at the spot where Tamilarasan fell into a borewell (inset) in his relative’s farmland at Koorampadi near Vellore on Sunday | S Dinesh

VELLORE:A two-and-a-half-year-old boy on Sunday died after he fell into an abandoned borewell in his relative’s farmland at Koorampadi village, about 36 km from here, in yet another case of an abandoned borewell turning into a deathtrap for innocent children.

A team comprising members of Revenue, Fire and Rescue Services and Health Department used eight earthmovers and a hydraulic and a manual driller to dig a pit, parallel to the borewell. However, the hard terrain delayed the rescue operation.

The seven-hour-long rescue operation, undertaken by multiple agencies working in unison to rescue the child, Tamilarasan, stuck 18-foot down in the 350-foot deep borewell, finally succeeded after the child was pulled out with the help of a borewell-rescue-robot at 5.10 pm.

A team of doctors led by E Theranirajan, head of the Department of Paediatrics, Government Vellore Medical College Hospital, attempted to resuscitate him, but in vain, with the doctors claiming that the child died two hours before being pulled up. “We followed all protocols of resuscitation to revive the child. But he died of hypoxia (lack of oxygen leading to multi-organ failure),” Theranirajan told Express.

Deputy director of Fire and Rescue Service Meenakshi Vijaykumari and her team, along with a 25-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, had earlier lowered a camera connected to a monitor into the six-foot diameter borewell to identify the child’s position.

“The boy’s hand was seen in the monitor, but we were unable to ascertain his health condition as there was no sign of movement,” said a fire service personnel.

Measures to Seal off Rogue Borewells

The district administration sealed around 350 abandoned borewells in the district last year alone, according to Collector R Nanthagopal.

“We have constituted special teams to identify and report abandoned borewells in the district. We are also regularly conducting meetings and reviewing the action taken in this regard,” the Collector told Express.

The administration is also raising public awareness of the critical need to cover and seal abandoned borewells and is cautioning those who fail to adhere to this recommendation as this puts lives in danger, he further said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police of Ranipet M Nagarajan said that they have filed a case against the landowners — Rajendran and his brother Vijayakumar — of the same village under section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC and commenced inquiry. “Action will also be taken against the persons or company that dug up the borewell and who failed to cover and seal it properly,” said the DSP.

According to government orders, the owner or owners of lands containing borewells should take precautionary measures and seal borewells that are not in use, with an iron lid and erect a signboard cautioning the public of the presence of a borewell.

Fencing should also be erected around the borewell.