Borewell deaths: Telangana government's response on Supreme Court order sought
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday asked the TS government to inform it of the measures being taken to implement the guidelines of the Supreme Court to prevent small children from falling into abandoned borewells and tubewells. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice T. Rajani was dealing with a PIL by B. Prakash, a practicing advocate of the High Court, seeking to hold officials and people concerned responsible for failing to take care of unfilled and defunct borewells and impose heavy penalty on them.
A. Satya Prasad, senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, cited the recent tragic death of Chinnari, a toddler who fell into a 40 feet uncovered borewell at Vikarabad, and said that the society at large was finding it difficult to cope with such tragedies. He told the court the Supreme Court had given certain directions to all the state governments and local bodies for taking preventive measures including keeping strict vigil on uncovered and abandoned bore wells and to take immediate steps to cover or fill them.
Mr Prasad said that as per law people tend to obtain permission to dig borewells, but abandon it if it fails to yield water. The apex court had directed that “if a borewell /tubewell is ‘abandoned’ at any stage, a certificate from the department concerned must be obtained that it has been properly filled up. The SC had also directed that “Random inspection of the abandoned wells was also to be done by the executive of the agency/ department concerned. The district collectors and block development officers shall maintain data of bore wells.”
Senior counsel urged the court to direct the state government to collect district-wise details of abandoned borewells and take steps to prevent further deaths, besides paying compensation to the family of the child. He prayed the court to direct the government to strictly implement the apex court’s guidelines. The bench issued notices to the Chief Secretary, principal secretaries of revenue and panchayat raj, director of ground water division and Ranga Reddy district collector, directing them to explain the measures taken to implement the Supreme Court guidelines.
Bus operators violating norms: PIL
The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed transport departments of AP and TS to respond to a PIL challenging the alterations of buses by transport operators in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice T. Rajani directed the transport authorities of both states to file affidavits by August 1.
