All borewells not in use to be sealed, orders govt
Police said the body of the man, who is yet to be identified, was pulled out after a 14-hour operation led by the National Disaster Response Force, along with police and fire brigade
Hours after a man’s body was pulled out from an abandoned Delhi Jal Board (DJB) borewell at Keshopur in west Delhi, the Delhi government on Sunday ordered chief secretary Naresh Kumar and the water utility to seal all public and private borewells that are not in use within 48 hours, and demanded a time-bound inquiry into the incident.
According to police, the body of the man, who is yet to be identified, was pulled out after a 14-hour operation led by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with the police and fire brigade.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a post on X in Hindi, said, “Water minister Atishi took stock of the situation. It was found that the borewell was inside a room locked with a lock and key. Delhi Police is investigating the entire incident. DJB has also been ordered to investigate. Strictest action will be taken against the responsible officers. And within 48 hours all abandoned government and private borewells will be sealed on war footing.”
Atishi said the borewell was inside a locked room. “Prima facie, it seems that an attempt was made to enter by forcefully breaking the lock. Police will investigate it. To ensure that such cases do not come up again, strict orders have been given to the jal board that all private and government borewells lying closed in Delhi should be sealed by welding within 48 hours, and a report should be submitted to me.”
The minister also issued an order to the chief secretary and DJB CEO, which states that a “deeply unfortunate incident” took place in Keshopur. “While the borewell was on land which had been handed over to Delhi Metro in 2020, nonetheless it is our responsibility to examine if any lapses have taken place on the part of DJB and to ensure that no such incident takes place in future,” the order said.
“The chief secretary is directed to conduct a time bound inquiry into the incident and take strong and exemplary action against any officer found responsible. Ensure all government and private abandoned borewells to be welded and sealed immediately and compliance reported to me within 48 hours,” the order undersigned by the minister added.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed DJB for the incident, accusing it of negligence.
“On February 28, another person died due to a fall in a ditch at Alipur, which had been left open by the DJB. The government should announce a ₹1 crore compensation due to these deaths,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.