Ensure boundary wall around wells, dist collectors told

In compliance with the National Human Rights Commission directives, the state government has directed district collectors in Rajasthan to ensure that a boundary wall was constructed around all bore wells and wells in their respective areas.

In the order, issued by the state chief secretary on Friday, the district collectors were asked to do a survey of the bore wells and wells in their respective areas and then get a boundary constructed around them. The district collectors have been asked to submit an action taken report by July 9, 2019.

The NHRC has asked the chief secretary to appear before it with the report on July 12.

The NHRC directions came following a complaint from Chittorgarh, where a person had lost his life after falling into a well, which had no boundary. The NHRC order mentioned that a life was lost due to negligence of the well owner and asked the state chief secretary to get a survey conducted as to how many wells are there in the state, which are without boundary walls. Thereafter, the boundary walls be constructed around all the wells within a time frame, the commission wrote, seeking submission of the progress report by the chief secretary after six weeks. A senior official of the district administration said as per the directives, the survey has been conducted and wherever there is no boundary around the wells and bore wells, the administration will enforce the owners to construct boundary wall around them.

Many cases of children accidentally falling into bore wells have been reported in Rajasthan in the past. Recently, on May 21, a four-year-old girl lost her life in Jodhpur after falling into a 440-foot deep bore well.