In a first, Madhya Pradesh government to table bill to stop borewell deaths

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh govt is preparing a law - said to be the first such in India - to prevent deaths caused by open borewells. Over nine such incidents have been reported in MP in the past seven months.

State public health engineering minister Sampatiya Uike confirmed to TOI that the bill will be presented in the assembly's budget session next month.

"We will make sure such tragedies aren't repeated," Uike said. The proposed law will have detailed guidelines on how to avert such tragedies, what to do if one occurs, and how accountability is to be fixed, said sources.

Officials told TOI that a draft bill titled "Khule Nalkoop Me Insano ke Girne se Hone Wali Durghatanao ki Roktham Evan Suraksha Vidhayak" is ready. "Once it comes into existence, MP will be the first state to have such a law," a source told TOI.

The bill calls for identification of open / dry borewells and heavy penalties on those responsible for not filling or plugging them and leaving them as an open hazard. If the borewell is on private land, the land owner will be fined. If it's govt land, the department and officer concerned will be penalised.

The second stage would be registration of a criminal case in case someone falls into an open borewell. As of now, the accused is booked for negligence. Under the new law, the accused will be booked under much harsher IPC sections, said sources.

Apart from the land owner or govt official, responsibility would also be fixed on the agency that drills the borewell, said an official. A system would be put in place for citizens to inform govt about open borewells so that preventive action can be taken, officials said, adding that the quantum of fine and punishment will be disclosed later.