Body of man pulled out from 40-ft Delhi Jal Board borewell after 13-hour operation

NDRF teams then began rescue efforts. First, two earthmovers were brought in to dig around the borewell while another machine was deployed to dig a parallel pit, two-three feet away. Life detectors and cameras were deployed inside the hole to check if the man was alive.

Hours later, by 1 pm, NDRF personnel had dug 35 feet into the main pit and removed most of the soil. They then dropped a rope with metal hooks attached inside the hole to pull out the body. Said an official who was part of the operation, “We hooked the man’s feet and shoulders to the rope and pulled him out.”

At 3 pm, the body was wrapped in a plastic bag and sent to DDU Hospital in an ambulance stationed there; he was later declared dead.

Police said efforts are on to identify the person, who appeared to be aged between 25 and 30 years. Said an officer, “The borewell was inside a room and one of its walls was damaged… anyone could get in… we are probing how the structure was broken and why was the borewell left open.”

Following the incident, Water Minister Atishi, who visited the area, directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to seal all abandoned borewells. In a letter to Kumar, she said: “A deeply unfortunate incident has taken place…, where someone has fallen into an abandoned borewell in the Keshopur STP. While this borewell was on land that had been handed over to Delhi Metro in 2020, nonetheless it is our responsibility to examine if any lapses have taken place on the part of the Delhi Jal Board, and to ensure no such incident takes place in future.”

Kumar was directed to ensure all government and private abandoned borewells were welded and sealed, and a compliance report was sent to the minister within 48 hours.

The Delhi Metro, however, said it did not build this borewell. “… nor did we make any use of it. The pump room inside which the borewell was located belongs to the DJB. The borewell was already installed… when DMRC took over the area around it for construction work,” DMRC Principal Executive Director Anuj Dayal.

The Delhi government also maintained that the borewell was in a locked room. “The person who has fallen inside is not a child, but someone who is at least 18 years old, if not more. There is a possibility of foul play since it is not easy for an adult to fall inside a borewell 12 inches in diameter. So, the victim might have been pushed in,” it said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a post on X, said the Delhi Police and DJB are looking into the matter. “… Water Minister Atishi took stock of the situation. It was revealed that the borewell was inside a room locked with a lock and key. Delhi Police is investigating the entire incident,” read the post.

Hitting out at the DJB, Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva blamed it for “laxity”.

Meanwhile, several people whose family members had gone missing over the past few months arrived at the spot to check if the body belonged to their loved one. Among them was Anita (35) from Ranhola whose brother, Sanju, had gone missing three months ago. “… we lodged a missing report and his last location was detected at Keshopur… my mother works at the mandi here and she told us of the incident,” she said.