Over 100 open borewells closed in Punjab

Chandigarh, June 12

More than 100 open borewells have been closed in various districts of Punjab on the directions of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh after the death of a two-year-old boy.

The two-year-old child stuck in a borewell shaft in Sangrur district was pulled out dead on Tuesday morning, bringing a four-day rescue operation to a tragic end.

The chief minister had ordered closure of all open borewells across the state and sought reports from the deputy commissioners.

Officials said the work on the closure of open borewells would continue for a couple of days more.

According to reports received from various district authorities, 50 borewells have been sealed in Bathinda and 18 in Patiala.

“We have so far identified 50 open borewells in Bathida and they have been closed and the work on finding more such borewells is going on,” Bathinda Deputy Commissioner B Srinivasan told PTI on Wednesday.

Patiala Deputy Commissioner Kumar Amit said 18 open borewells have so far been closed in the district and the work on the closure of other open borewells was still continuing.

Twenty-six open borewells were closed in Fatehgarh Sahib district, eight in Mansa, three in Kapurthala, two in Gurdaspur and one each in Rupnagar and Hoshiarpur districts, the officials said.

In Rupnagar, where 19 borewells were reported to be lying unattended, one has already been covered and the process to close the rest was on.

There was no open borewell found in Ferozepur, Faridkot, Muktsar and Taran Taran districts, the officials said.

Two-year-old Fatehvir Singh, who fell into 150-foot-deep abandoned borewell was retrieved dead on Tuesday morning in a rescue operation that lasted for almost 109 hours in Sangrur.

The Punjab Government has come under fire from the Opposition over the death of Fatehvir with rival political parties blaming it for the “botched up” rescue operation that led to the death of the toddler. — PTI