Mahi loses long battle to survive
25 Jun 2012 1:31 AM GMT
After 86 hours of intense rescue operation, the five-year-old Mahi Upadhyay was brought out from the 70-foot-deep borewell, where she had fallen on Wednesday night. She was immediately rushed to the hospital, where unfortunately, she was declared dead on arrival.
More unfortunate are the allegations levelled by her father Neeraj Upadhyay, who claimed that he was asked to pay for the diesel and oxygen cylinders used in the rescue operation, even as Mahi was still inside. He said, 'On Thursday, I was asked to pay for the diesel used by DMRC machine, which was called to dig a parallel hole. The authorities said they won't start digging the hole until I paid. I was also asked to pay for the oxygen cylinders. Not only that, the oxygen pipe they brought at first could only be dropped till three metres. After a long span of time, a long pipe was brought.'
Mahi's family is now blaming the civic authorities for her death. They said that the rescue teams lacked coordination and were not taking quick decisions. 'I would even say that my daughter was murdered by the rescue team,' said Neeraj.
The deputy commissioner of Gurgaon P C Meena confirmed that the girl was long dead before she was taken out of the borewell. 'Post mortem report reveals that Mahi died seven hours after she fell into the well. She was critically injured and lack of sufficient oxygen inside led to her death,' said B B Aggarwal, who conducted the post mortem.
Aggarwal said that when Mahi was taken out, her body had already started decomposing. The body has been handed over to the family. Earlier during the rescue operation, a hard rock had became a hurdle for the army persons, who were trying to connect the parallel hole to the borewell. On Saturday night, they managed to pierce the rock but by then it was too late.
On the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, Mahi fell into the borewell that was illegally dug in front of her residence. At about 4 am on Thursday, the rescue team supplied oxygen to Mahi, but possibly by then, she had developed severe breathing problems.
Over 100 officials from the army, fire, police, Metro, health and revenue departments, along with the locals, were involved in the rescue operation. Mahi's family, along with thousands others, were hoping for a miracle that never happened.
UNITY IN PRINT, NOT IN SPIRIT
Mahi’s death highlighted yet again the inevitable. That, when it comes to coordination, the various agencies involved in disaster management, fall a long way behind. When Mahi was stuck inside the 70-foot borewell, it took the team under National Disaster Management Authority [NDMA], which supposedly comprise personnel representing army, police, Fire, Metro and Health, four days to get their act together.
The NDMA claims, according to its website, ‘to build a safer and disaster resilient India by developing a holistic, pro-active, multi-disaster and technology-driven strategy for disaster management through collective efforts of government agencies and non-governmental organisations’. But every time these organisations have to work together, it becomes obvious that they lack coordination.
Mahi’s rescue operation was the longest in terms of hours as yet in India in rescuing a person from a borewell. The police reached the spot an hour late after Mahi’s father informed them.
The Army reached the spot without preparation, some didn’t even have torch lights apparently.
The health department did not have a pipe long enough to supply oxygen to Mahi who was stuck at the 70-foot borewell.
The drill machine that DMRC uses to dig earth for fixing pillars for elevated Metro stations was brought to the spot very late. They were planning to dig a hole to 70 feet deep, parallel to the borewell. To make matters worse, the work had to be stopped midway because there was not enough diesel. ‘The authorities asked me to pay for the diesel. Only I after paid, the work could proceed,’ said Neeraj Upadhyay, Mahi’s father.
The post mortem report revealed that Mahi died seven hours after she fell into the borewell. The cause of her death was attributed to lack of oxygen. This could point fingers only at the health department who, though present throughout the rescue operation, were perhaps a bit too late in providing the most crucial help.
Using a GPRS device to pinpoint the exact location of Mahi was also an afterthought.
Every delayed minute cost poor Mahi her life.
CHILD RIGHTS PANEL SEEKS BOREWELL REPORT
India’s apex child rights panel has sought a report from the water resources ministry on abandoned borewells that have turned into death traps for children such as Mahi, a four-year-old girl found dead on Sunday in a Haryana borewell.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights [NCPCR] wrote to the ministry Friday, two days after Mahi fell in the 70-feet deep borewell at the Manesar IMT in Haryana.
‘The report will include the actions taken for the enforcement of the Supreme Court directions on prevention of fatal accidents of small children from falling into abandoned borewells and tubewells,’ said NCPCR chief Shantha Sinha.
The letter sought to know the status on the compliance by the states of the apex court directions.
‘An action taken report may be sent to the NCPCR within 15 days,’ the letter said. In a letter to Haryana chief secretary, the NCPCR sought to know if the Supreme Court guidelines had been followed in the case of the borewell in which Mahi fell to death.
The panel also wanted to know if any violation was found in this case and action was taken by the state. The apex court guidelines include measures such as informing area residents about any such borewell being dug up days ahead of the task, mandatory registration of drilling agencies, putting up of signboards near the drilling location and fencing around the well during construction, among others.
The NCPCR sent a copy of the letter to chief secretaries of all states, asking them to forward the letter to district collectors.
TEENAGER FALLS IN DEEP WELL
In another tragic incident similar to the Gurgaon tragedy that killed the fve-year-old Mahi, a teenager in Howrah, West Bengal, fell into a well of around the same depth on Sunday afernoon. 15-year-old Roshan Parasi fell into the well at around 3.30 pm. Rescue operations are on, though rain is hampering the efforts. A disaster management team was sent to the site. Police offcials said that the mouth of the well was very narrow.
More unfortunate are the allegations levelled by her father Neeraj Upadhyay, who claimed that he was asked to pay for the diesel and oxygen cylinders used in the rescue operation, even as Mahi was still inside. He said, 'On Thursday, I was asked to pay for the diesel used by DMRC machine, which was called to dig a parallel hole. The authorities said they won't start digging the hole until I paid. I was also asked to pay for the oxygen cylinders. Not only that, the oxygen pipe they brought at first could only be dropped till three metres. After a long span of time, a long pipe was brought.'
Mahi's family is now blaming the civic authorities for her death. They said that the rescue teams lacked coordination and were not taking quick decisions. 'I would even say that my daughter was murdered by the rescue team,' said Neeraj.
The deputy commissioner of Gurgaon P C Meena confirmed that the girl was long dead before she was taken out of the borewell. 'Post mortem report reveals that Mahi died seven hours after she fell into the well. She was critically injured and lack of sufficient oxygen inside led to her death,' said B B Aggarwal, who conducted the post mortem.
Aggarwal said that when Mahi was taken out, her body had already started decomposing. The body has been handed over to the family. Earlier during the rescue operation, a hard rock had became a hurdle for the army persons, who were trying to connect the parallel hole to the borewell. On Saturday night, they managed to pierce the rock but by then it was too late.
On the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, Mahi fell into the borewell that was illegally dug in front of her residence. At about 4 am on Thursday, the rescue team supplied oxygen to Mahi, but possibly by then, she had developed severe breathing problems.
Over 100 officials from the army, fire, police, Metro, health and revenue departments, along with the locals, were involved in the rescue operation. Mahi's family, along with thousands others, were hoping for a miracle that never happened.
UNITY IN PRINT, NOT IN SPIRIT
Mahi’s death highlighted yet again the inevitable. That, when it comes to coordination, the various agencies involved in disaster management, fall a long way behind. When Mahi was stuck inside the 70-foot borewell, it took the team under National Disaster Management Authority [NDMA], which supposedly comprise personnel representing army, police, Fire, Metro and Health, four days to get their act together.
The NDMA claims, according to its website, ‘to build a safer and disaster resilient India by developing a holistic, pro-active, multi-disaster and technology-driven strategy for disaster management through collective efforts of government agencies and non-governmental organisations’. But every time these organisations have to work together, it becomes obvious that they lack coordination.
Mahi’s rescue operation was the longest in terms of hours as yet in India in rescuing a person from a borewell. The police reached the spot an hour late after Mahi’s father informed them.
The Army reached the spot without preparation, some didn’t even have torch lights apparently.
The health department did not have a pipe long enough to supply oxygen to Mahi who was stuck at the 70-foot borewell.
The drill machine that DMRC uses to dig earth for fixing pillars for elevated Metro stations was brought to the spot very late. They were planning to dig a hole to 70 feet deep, parallel to the borewell. To make matters worse, the work had to be stopped midway because there was not enough diesel. ‘The authorities asked me to pay for the diesel. Only I after paid, the work could proceed,’ said Neeraj Upadhyay, Mahi’s father.
The post mortem report revealed that Mahi died seven hours after she fell into the borewell. The cause of her death was attributed to lack of oxygen. This could point fingers only at the health department who, though present throughout the rescue operation, were perhaps a bit too late in providing the most crucial help.
Using a GPRS device to pinpoint the exact location of Mahi was also an afterthought.
Every delayed minute cost poor Mahi her life.
CHILD RIGHTS PANEL SEEKS BOREWELL REPORT
India’s apex child rights panel has sought a report from the water resources ministry on abandoned borewells that have turned into death traps for children such as Mahi, a four-year-old girl found dead on Sunday in a Haryana borewell.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights [NCPCR] wrote to the ministry Friday, two days after Mahi fell in the 70-feet deep borewell at the Manesar IMT in Haryana.
‘The report will include the actions taken for the enforcement of the Supreme Court directions on prevention of fatal accidents of small children from falling into abandoned borewells and tubewells,’ said NCPCR chief Shantha Sinha.
The letter sought to know the status on the compliance by the states of the apex court directions.
‘An action taken report may be sent to the NCPCR within 15 days,’ the letter said. In a letter to Haryana chief secretary, the NCPCR sought to know if the Supreme Court guidelines had been followed in the case of the borewell in which Mahi fell to death.
The panel also wanted to know if any violation was found in this case and action was taken by the state. The apex court guidelines include measures such as informing area residents about any such borewell being dug up days ahead of the task, mandatory registration of drilling agencies, putting up of signboards near the drilling location and fencing around the well during construction, among others.
The NCPCR sent a copy of the letter to chief secretaries of all states, asking them to forward the letter to district collectors.
TEENAGER FALLS IN DEEP WELL
In another tragic incident similar to the Gurgaon tragedy that killed the fve-year-old Mahi, a teenager in Howrah, West Bengal, fell into a well of around the same depth on Sunday afernoon. 15-year-old Roshan Parasi fell into the well at around 3.30 pm. Rescue operations are on, though rain is hampering the efforts. A disaster management team was sent to the site. Police offcials said that the mouth of the well was very narrow.
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