Haryana water woes: Five suffocate to death while cleaning well

The deceased were identified as Sanjay (23), Sukhchain (20), Mahipal (36) , Mohan (18) and Dinesh (24). All victims belonged to the Dhanak caste of the SC community. At 9 am, a small group of men from the village had decided to clean the well to make water available for the community’s daily needs.

Sukhchain was reportedly the first to enter the 20-foot-deep well. As he failed to return, Sanjay climbed down next and others followed one by one.

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Karampal, who was accompanying the group, then cautiously entered the well with his t-shirt wrapped around his mouth, but could not rescue anyone. “They kept slipping,” he said about his failed rescue bid. Meantime, police was informed by villagers who had gathered at the spot. A rescue worker later fell unconscious after inhaling the gas, hampering the operation for a while.

After being retrieved from the well, the bodies were sent to the Jind Civil Hospital for postmortem. All five victims were cremated in the evening.

A pall of gloom descended over the area which is home to nearly 400 Dalit families. Villagers blamed water scarcity in the area for the tragic deaths.

“The well where the five died was not in use since 1995. With water not being available at all, some people decided to clean it to get water for daily use. That proved fatal…,’’ said Shamsher, brother-in-law of the sarpanch, Pinki. He also claimed that repeated reminders to the district administration and political leaders to solve the water crisis in the village had yielded no results. But the Deputy Commissioner denied that any such complaint was ever received. “No complaint has come to my notice. The villagers had also not asked for any water tanker. They were cleaning the well to get water for bathing and other purposes, and not for drinking. The supply this year has been less,” he said.

Saroj, wife of one of the deceased, Mahipal, said, “I have four children to look after and Mahipal was the only earning member of the family. There is no water available here. We somehow manage everyday. Mahipal decided to clean the well to get water. I wish he had never gone.”

The Haryana government, meanwhile, has announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for each family of the victims.