Solapur District Wells Action Guilty Officials Collector

Two days after a pick up van plunged into a well killing 8 persons in Tandulwadi village of Solapur district, the district administration on Tuesday said work was underway to ensure wells do not pose threats to citizens’ lives.

The district administration and police said action will be taken against government officials found guilty of negligence.

“I have given orders to officials to ensure that all wells in the district are secured and do not pose any threat to citizens. I have told officials to set up protective walls so that such accidents do not occur,” district collector S Karthikeyan told The Indian Express on Tuesday.

The collector said there are three wells in Tandulwadi village. “I have told officials to immediately initiate temporary measures to secure these three wells by constructing protective walls, setting up crash barriers and even constructing compound walls. I have also directed officials to initiate same measures for other wells in the entire district,” he said.

“We will study the problem entirely and then implement permanent measures to ensure that wells do not pose any threat,” he added. Solapur police said the road contractor was booked and will soon be arrested for negligence.

“An FIR has been filed against the contractor for neglecting his work, he will soon be arrested,” Solapur Superintendent of Police Atul Kulkarni told The Indian Express on Tuesday. When asked whether officials who neglected constructing a protective wall around the well will be arrested, Kulkarni said, “Police will take action against officials who are responsible for the accidents as well. We will not spare anyone. Our investigation is underway.”

Echoing the same view, Karthikeyan said, “I will certainly be taking action against officials who are found guilty. We have set up a five member committee to probe the incident and fix the blame. The land acquisition to widen the road first started in 1986. We will have to find out who the officials were then as well as in subsequent years and determine if the process was completed or not. The committee will look into different angles. We are expecting the committee to not only pin the blame but also suggest ways to ensure safety of citizens.”

The police said the contractor was booked because he did not set up a protective barrier between the wall and the road, install signboards nor provide proper lighting. Speed breakers were not installed on the Pandharpur-Mhaswad Road either. “The contractor has been negligent in doing his duty,” an official said.

The contractor is reportedly from Pune and has a reputation of doing his work improperly. “His reputation as far as doing proper work is concerned is not good. When I was in Satara, we never alloted any work to him,” said a senior official from Pune district collectorate.

When asked whether the contractor was solely responsible and not officials under whose directions he was working, Kulkarni said, “We will take action against all officials who are found negligent in discharge of their duty.”

The well owner too has refused to take responsibility for the unprotected well which does not have a parapet wall. “The well was constructed over a century ago by my forefathers. It was away from the road. However, the authorities went on widening the road and even raised the height of the road. Due to the road widening, its edge is almost touching by well,” said Ramrkishna Kadam, the well-owner.

Kadam said when he complained to PWD officials and urged them construct a protective wall around the well, they had promised to act. “But this was in 2017 when I made the complaint in writing. I have not increased the width of the well. The PWD officials have increased the width of the road. And therefore it is their duty to ensure that a safety wall or barriers are set up to avoid any accidents,” he said. Dhananjay Dethe, a relative of the Bawache family, which lost 6 of its family members in the accident, said, “We are seeking justice for the close relatives who died in the accident. There is negligence on the part of the authorities in setting up barriers between the well and the road. Had there been proper safety measures in place, an accident of this magnitude would not have happened.”

The driver who survived the mishap was also a close relative of the Bawache family. Dethe said the driver and two sons of one of the deceased were in a state of shock. “Only when they recover from the shock will we get to know how the accident happened,” he said.

Police suspect there was a possibility the driver was talking on his phone, which made him lose control of the vehicle which then plunged into the open well.

Irfan Mujawar, who was one among the local youths that saved at least five lives after jumping into the well, said, “I was closely trailing the pick up van. It was wobbly, shaky and tilting on both sides. I was thinking that it would fall into the roadside farm. However, it skidded into the open well.”

The moment the vehicle fell into the open well, Mujawar phoned friends to come to the spot.