Open wells DEATH TRAPS in city

Coimbatore: Barely a week after a youth fell into an open well in Coimbatore and drowned during an alleged attempt to take a selfie, two more lives have been lost as open and abandoned wells have virtually turned into death traps.
"So far this year, 29 people have drowned while 28 others were rescued from wells. Most of them suffer accidental falls in open and abandoned wells.As far as Coimbatore is concerned, suicides are minimal," said a fire and rescue services officer. In 2016, the maximum number of cases were reported from predominantly agrarian Pollachi and Coimbatore south region.
According to data from fire and rescue services department, 58 people died of drowning in abandoned wells last year. Twenty-seven of these cases were from Pollachi. At Sidhanaickenpalayam near Sulur, the drowning of suspected sandalwood smuggler was the second incident in two years. Last May, four children aged between 9 and 13 years had drowned in a well which was converted into a rain water harvesting structure in the same area.
M Shahul Hameed, joint director, fire and rescue department said he had asked for a report from the district fire officer on the demand for equipment. "Most such cases take place in abandoned quarries in districts like Trichy, Madurai, Dharmapuri and Salem. In Coimbatore, only recently, such cases have increased," he said. He added that they would soon purchase equipment and required gadgets for such operations
In June, 2015, a 15-year-old boy drowned in an abandoned well at Kuniamuthur. "Most of these wells are located in remote areas and are at least 50ft deep. And most of the victims are children or adolescents. These wells have water up to 10ft and are filled with garbage and waste materials. Though the government has asked the owners of private wells to build walls, most of them ignore the direction. They don't even put up warning boards," said a fire officer.
The district administration said 1,058 unsafe open and bore wells were closed last year in the district while 2000 more such wells in private land were also closed. However, civic activists question these numbers. Activists say that wells should be fenced and warning boards should be installed.
C R Swaminathan, president of residential awareness association of Coimbatore, said that the district collector and the corporation commissioner should take up the issue and send circulars directing owners to cover up open and abandoned wells giving them a time frame. "If this is done, such accidents can be avoided in future," he said. Another social worker and marketing professional, N A Sujatha said NGOs should work with the government to create awareness on setting up parapet walls for wells.
Corporation commissioner, K Vijaya Karthikeyan said that he would instruct his officials to carry out a ward wise evaluation of the wells and ensure there is a database. Though it may take some time, it will help avoid such incidents in future. The district collector, T N Hariharan could not be reached for a comment.