Borewells, death traps for children in India

New Delhi: It's a story we have heard before – a child accidentally falls into a gaping manhole, the Army is called in for rescue operations and the media tracks each minute of the rescue operation which often runs into days and the nation seeks divine help.

But in Sonu’s case even prayers failed to save the two-year-old child on Monday. Sonu had fallen into a 150-foot-deep borewell at around 0945 hrs IST on Thursday while playing outside his house in Lehrakapura village near Shamsabad town, 26 km from Agra.

But miracles also happen. Earlier this year, Vandana was one of the few children who was successfully rescued by the Army. The two-year-old was alive after being in a 45-feet deep manhole for more than 24 hours.

Dr NC Prajapati of SN Medical Hospital said, “What kept her alive was sheer will-power, she kept talking to the rescuers despite being in a dark, tiny hole.”

Six-year-old Prince had watched Vandana's gruelling rescue on television in a similar manner in which the nation saw his rescue two years ago.

Prince had spent more than 48 hours in a manhole in Kurukshetra in Haryana with CCTV cameras flashing images of his minutes in the darkness.

“The locals were not prepared to deal with such things. We had to call in the Army,” Major General Gautam Banerjee said.

Another six-year-old boy who'd fallen into a 40-ft deep borewell in Karnataka was rescued safely after a massive operation in January this year but many have not been as lucky as these children.

A six-year-old boy fell into a borewell 35 km off Jaipur in July last year. Despite a 50-hour long rescue operation, he could not be saved. The same year in April, a two-day long rescue operation failed with nine-year-old Sandeep trapped in a borewell in Karnataka's Neeramanvi village.

So, little has changed since these cases were first reported with borewells and manholes continuing to be death traps for children.

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