After the death of 2 boys in 4 days, MP govt says all open borewells must be covered

Following the death of two boys after falling into open borewells in the past four days in Umaria and Damoh districts of Madhya Pradesh, the state government on Monday directed officials to ensure all such sites are covered. While 3-year-old Prince Athya died after he fell into a 30-feet deep dry borewell in Barkera Bes village in Damoh on Sunday noon, a 3-year-old boy died in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday after falling into a 200-feet deep borewell in Badarchad village in Umaria.

"The two deaths are extremely sad. Instructions have been issued to all Janpad Panchayat Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Public Health Engineering (PHE) to cover open borewells to prevent such incidents," state Home minister Narottam Mishra, who is also the state government's spokesperson, told reporters on Monday.

While the futile rescue operation in Damoh took five hours, the one in Umaria went on for 16 hours, officials had said.