Before Sujith, at least 10 kids died after borewells in last 15 years
Chennai, Oct 29: Two-year-old Sujith Wilson is not the only child to have met with a tragic end after falling into an abandoned borewell as at least 10 other children had died in a similar manner in Tamil Nadu over the past 15 years.
The toddler's death brought to the fore the lack of awareness on sealing unused borewells and public apathy towards taking safety measures.
Unexplicably, April 2014 saw repeat incidents of innocent children becoming victims of uncovered borewells in the state.
In September 2013, a six-year old girl child died after falling into a borewell in Pulavanpadi village in Tiruvannamalai District.
A three-year-old girl, R Madhumita, got stuck at about 30 feet of a 500-feet borewell at her father's farm at Pallagaseri village near Villupuram in April 2014.
She fell into the borewell - covered with a polythene sack - when she stepped on it accidentally while playing.
After a 19-hour long struggle, she was rescued alive by multiple teams working in tandem,but later died in a hospital.
Days after this mishap, a four-year-old boyHarshan fell into a borewell, also located in a farm at Kuthalapuri in Tirunelveli district.
Rescuers battled for more than five hours and brought the child out alive.
A day after the successful rescue,an 18-month old toddler fell into an unused borewell at Kidampalayam village, about 50 km from Tiruvannamalai.
D Sujith was playing near a farm along with some family members when he fell into it.
Stuck at about 47 feet in the 200 feet borewell, his body was taken out after 24-hours of rescue efforts.
Sujith's fall into the borewell was the third such mishap in April 2014 in Tamil Nadu. While Harshan was saved, Madhumita and Sujith were not lucky enough.
It was a "borewell robot",an indigenous device developed by a Madurai-based social worker, that saved Harshan.
In an interview to PTI, social worker M Manigandan had said that the trigger for developing the device was his son's accidental fall into a borewell in 2003 and the painful rescue efforts.
In the past about 15 years, at least 13 children have fallen into unused borewells in Tamil Nadu alone and only three of them were rescued alive.
The rescued include Harshan (2014), a three-year-old boy in 2012 at Thali in Krishnagiri district and another boy in Dindigul district in 2004.
Several such mishaps have occurred in other parts of the country as well, including neighbouring Karnataka and as recently as in June this year, when a child fell a victim in Punjab.
Two-year-old Fatehvir Singh fell into a cloth covered borewell in a farm while playing at Bhagwanpura village. The borewell was covered with a cloth on which the boy had accidentally stepped on it.
His mother desperately tried to save him, but to no avail.
Unsuccessful efforts to rescue him safely went on for about 110 hours and eventually the boy's body was pulled out of the 150-feet deep unused bore well.
As early as 2010, following several incidents of children falling into unused borewells, the Supreme Court had framed guidelines to prevent children from falling into unused borewells.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Thailand, Cambodia agree to ceasefire talks after Trump steps in, but border clashes persist
Surin (Thailand) (AP): Thailand and Cambodia on Sunday signalled their readiness to negotiate an end to a deadly border dispute following mediation efforts by US President Donald Trump. The fighting, now in its fourth day, has killed at least 33 people and displaced more than 168,000.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday that he spoke to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia and suggested he would not move forward with trade agreements with either country if the hostilities continued. He later said both sides agreed to meet to negotiate a ceasefire.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Sunday his country agreed to pursue an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire.” He said Trump told him that Thailand had also agreed to halt attacks following Trump's conversation with Acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.
“This is positive news for the soldiers and people of both countries,” Hun Manet said in a statement.
He said he tasked his deputy, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, to coordinate next steps with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and to engage directly with Thailand's foreign minister to implement the ceasefire.
Thailand expressed cautious support. Phumtham thanked Trump and said that Thailand agreed in principle to a ceasefire but stressed the need for “sincere intention” from Cambodia, the Thai Foreign Ministry said. Phumtam called for swift bilateral talks to discuss concrete steps toward a peaceful resolution, it said.
The fighting first flared Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand closed its border crossings with Cambodia.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, fighting continued Sunday along parts of the contested border, with both sides refusing to budge and trading blame over renewed shelling and troop movements.
Col Richa Suksowanont, a Thai army deputy spokesperson, said Cambodian forces fired heavy artillery into Surin province, including at civilian homes early Sunday. He said Cambodia also launched rocket attacks targeting the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple claimed by both countries, and other areas in a bid to reclaim territory secured by Thai troops. Thai forces responded with long-range artillery to strike Cambodian artillery and rocket launchers.
Richa said Trump's efforts to mediate was a “separate matter.” The battlefield operations will continue and a ceasefire can only happen if Cambodia formally initiates negotiations, he added.
“Any cessation of hostilities cannot be reached while Cambodia is severely lacking in good faith and repeatedly violating the basic principles of human rights and humanitarian law," Thailand's Foreign Ministry said separately.
Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata accused Thai forces of escalating the violence with bombardment of Cambodian territory early Sunday, followed by a "large-scale incursion" involving tanks and ground troops in multiple areas.
“Such actions undermine all efforts toward peaceful resolution and expose Thailand's clear intent to escalate rather than de-escalate the conflict,” she said.
Thailand has reported 20 deaths, mostly civilians, while Cambodia said 13 people have been killed. More than 131,000 people in Thailand have evacuated to safe locations and over 37,000 people fled from three Cambodian provinces. Many border villages are mostly deserted, with many schools and hospitals shut.
Pichayut Surasit, an air-conditioning technician in Thailand, said the sudden outbreak of fighting meant leaving his work in Bangkok to return home to protect his family.
“I didn't have the heart to continue with my work when I heard the news. I wanted to come back as soon as possible but I had to wait until the evening,” he said. Now at a shelter in Surin housing some 6,000 evacuees, Pichayut worries for his wife and twin daughters, hoping the conflict will end soon so they can return to their home in Kap Choeng district, one of the hardest hit by shelling.
Bualee Chanduang, a local vendor who moved to the same shelter Thursday with her family and pet rabbit, is counting on swift negotiations to end the violence. “I pray for God to help that both sides can agree to talk and end this war,” she said.
The U.N. Security Council has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional bloc, to mediate peace between the two members. Human Rights Watch has condemned the reported use of cluster munitions, weapons banned by International law, in populated areas, and urged both governments to protect civilians.
The 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The latest tensions flared in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand's domestic politics.
_vb_84.jpeg)
_vb_74.jpeg)
