Supreme Court modifies Guidelines for “Measures for Prevention of Fatal Accidents of Small Children due to their falling into Abandoned Bore wells and Tube Wells”.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has issued modified guidelines in the Civil Writ Petition No. 36 of 2009 regarding “Measures for Prevention of Fatal Accidents of Small Children due to their falling into Abandoned Bore wells and Tube Wells”.
The Modified/ Revised Guidelines are as below:
(i) The owner of the land/premises, before taking any steps for constructing bore well/ tube well must inform in writing at least 15 days in advance to the concerned authorities in the area, i.e., District Collector/ District Magistrate/ Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat/ any other Statutory Authority/ concerned officers of the Department of Ground Water/ Public Health/ Municipal Corporation, as the case may be, about the construction of bore well/ tube well.
(ii) Registration of all the drilling agencies, namely, Government/ Semi-Government/ Private etc should be mandatory with the district administration/ Statutory Authority wherever applicable.
(iii) Erection of signboard at the time of construction near the well with the following details:-
(a) Complete address of the drilling agency at the time of construction/ rehabilitation of well.
(b) Complete address of the user agency/ owner of the well.
(iv) Erection of barbed wire fencing or any other suitable barrier around the well during construction.
(v) Construction of cement/ concrete platform measuring 0.50×0.50×0.60 meter (0.30 meter above ground level and 0.30 meter below ground level) around the well casing.
(vi) Capping of well assembly by welding steel plate or by providing a strong cap to be fixed to the casing pipe with bolts & nuts.
(vii) In case of pump repair, the tube well should not be left uncovered.
(viii) Filling of mud pits and channels after completion of works.
(ix) Filling up abandoned bore wells by clay/ sand/ boulders/ pebbles/ drill cuttings etc from bottom to ground level.
(x) On completion of the drilling operations at a particular location, the ground conditions are to be restored as before the start of drilling.
(xi) District Collector should be empowered to verify that the above guidelines are being followed and proper monitoring check about the status of boreholes/ tube wells are being taken care through the concerned State/Central Government agencies.
(xii) District/ Block/ Village wise status of bore wells/ tube wells drilled viz. No. of wells in use, no. of abandoned bore wells/ tube wells found open, no. of abandoned bore wells/ tube wells properly filled up to ground level and balance number of abandoned bore wells/ tube wells to be filled up to ground level is to be maintained at District level. In rural areas, the monitoring of the above is to be done through Village Sarpanch and the Executive from the Agriculture Department. In case of urban areas, the monitoring of the above is to be done through Junior Engineer and the Executive from the concerned Department of Ground Water/ Public Health/ Municipal Corporation etc.
(xiii) If a bore well/ tube well is ‘Abandoned’ at any stage, a certificate from the concerned department of Ground Water/ Public Health/ Municipal Corporation/ Private contractor etc must be obtained by the aforesaid agencies that the ‘Abandoned’ bore well/ tube well is properly filled up to the ground level. Random inspection of the abandoned wells is also be done by the Executive of the concerned agency/ department. Information on all such data on the above are to be maintained in the District Collector/ Block Development Office of the State.
