Lok Sabha Debates
Issue Rergarding Fall Of A Two Year Old Child Into A Borewell In Nadukattupatti ... on 19 November, 2019
Seventeenth Loksabha > Title: Issue rergarding fall of a two year old child into a borewell in Nadukattupatti village near Manapparai in Tamil Nadu.
SUSHRI S. JOTHIMANI (KARUR): Hon. Speaker, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity with a sympathetic heart to raise an important issue in this august House. I would like to call upon my colleagues’ attention also as I rise to share the most painful and horrific incident which happened in my Constituency, in Nadukattupatti village near Manapparai in Tamil Nadu.
Sujith Wilson, a two-year old child, fell into a borewell hole and was battling for his life, we do not know for how many days, but the rescue operation ended after four days. The poor child was left without water, food, air, love and care of mother and was crying inside that dark hole. The last thing which was heard was the sound of ‘amma, amma’. Later, we heard only the hard breathing of the child. Those were probably his last hours. While I recall the incident, I still feel shivers down my spine. I could not sleep for days. As a responsible MP, I was left in a very difficult and painful situation to console the family - obviously, I had no words – and answer thousands and thousands of people who gathered at the spot, across the State and outside with the hope and prayer that the child will be rescued.
About a thousand people were deployed in the rescue operation. There were National and State Disaster Response Teams, fire service, District and police administration in full swing, and experts from premier technical institutions like NIT and Anna University. ONGC and L&T also came to the rescue. There were private volunteer teams which were involved with their own rescue apparatus. Later we realised that we were left to depend only on them and that none of the Government agencies had that kind of rescue mechanism. They all worked hard for four days day and night. Hon. former President of Congress, Rahul Gandhi Ji, our hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji also prayed for the well being of the child. Then it got the national attention. …(Interruptions)
Sir, I need two more minutes. This is a very important issue. We do not realise this as an issue and that is how these incidents keep happening. Coincidentally, hon. Minister of Science and Technology also is here. I need two more minutes to explain the importance of the issue. …(Interruptions) You have already given me permission out of turn, Sir, and I thank you for that.
Sir, millions of people outside Tamil Nadu and India prayed. Despite that, I share this with deep guilt and pain, we could not rescue the child, not even his fragile little body. Actually, we could not face the family at the spot. What we realised is that in the last part of the rescue operation we could smell only the decomposed body of that boy. See the situation of the family and the people gathered around! This is not the only such incident. What kind of trauma, loneliness and fear the family would have gone through! Though Tamil Nadu Government was in charge of the rescue mission, they could have called the responsible rescue machinery like Disaster Management Force at the right time when the child was at 14 feet and 27 feet down the hole. The child could have possibly been saved then. But the child slipped further to 63 feet and 87 feet during the rescue operation. Then it seemed that everything came to an end. There is no rescue operation as such. This is not the only such incident. At least around 12 other children have died in similar situations in Tamil Nadu. According to NDRF, over 40 children have died after falling into borewell holes since 2009 across the country.
One week after this horrific incident, a similar thing happened in Harsinghpura village in Haryana in which a five-year old was pulled out dead from a borewell hole by the NDRF. I am afraid that this kind of sheer negligence happens because the children who fall into borewell or drainage holes generally come from a poor background. Obviously, these people do not have voice and representation. Maybe this is the reason disasters of this scale and magnitude keep happening in the country. We are losing child after child after child without any remorse or regret. We have our ISRO sending rockets into space.
माननीयअध्यक्ष: माननीय सदस्य, आप अपनी बात संक्षेप में कहिए । आपका पूरा विषय सदन के माध्यम से आ गया है और मंत्री जी को भी आपका विषय ध्यान में आ चुका है ।
श्रीमती माला राय ।
… (Interruptions)
माननीयअध्यक्ष: हम सब इस विषय पर गंभीर हैं और यह विषय ध्यान में आ चुका है, इतना ही सदन का उपयोग होता है ।
श्रीमती माला राय ।
SUSHRI S. JOTHIMANI: Sir, I call upon the collective conscience of the House to put a full stop to this horrific thing. I also call upon the Home Ministry, the Science and Technology Ministry, the Women and Child Development Ministry, and other Ministries who are responsible for this to create systems now. So, that is what we want.
Thank you, Sir.
माननीयअध्यक्ष: श्री सप्तगिरी उलाका, श्रीमती कनिमोझी करुणानिधि, श्रीमती सुप्रिया सदानंद सुले और श्री सु. थिरुनवुक्करासर को सुश्री एस. जोतिमणि द्वारा उठाए गए विषयके साथ संबद्ध करने की अनुमति प्रदान की जाती है ।
माननीय सदस्य, आपबैठ जाइए । आपलिख करदीजिए । इस प्रकार सेआप सदन में नउठाया करें । कृपया आपबैठ जाइए । इसप्रकार सेआप अपनी मर्जी सेनहीं उठजाया कीजिए । आप कागज परकुछ लिख करदीजिए । हम सभी कोमौका देते हैं । आप अपने विषय कोलिख करदीजिए । हम सभी कोमौका देंगे ।
कोई भी माननीय सदस्य सदन में न उठे । अगर आपको किसी विषय को उठाना है, तो आप लिख कर दें । हम सभी माननीय सदस्यों को बोलने का अवसर देंगे । यह सदन सब का है, सब को मौका देंगे, लेकिन इसकी कुछ व्यवस्था होनी चाहिए ।
…( व्यवधान)
माननीय अध्यक्ष: हमारे दादा हीसबसे ज्यादा बीच में उठते हैं औरवह कहरहे हैं किबहुत अच्छी व्यवस्था है ।