Bhopal, Dec 29 (IANS): Sumit Meena, the 10-year-old boy who was rescued from a borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Guna, died at a district hospital on Sunday. 

Sumit had fallen into a borewell while flying a kite with his friends and cousins near his home in Raghogarh town in Guna. He was rescued after an over 16-hour operation by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local police.

Despite efforts to stabilise him, the child passed away shortly after being brought to the hospital. Sumit Meena became the seventh victim of a borewell tragedy in the past two years (between December 2022 and 2024) in different parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Before him, a six-year-old boy Mayank Kol had fallen into a borewell in Teonthar tehsil of Rewa district on April 12 this year. He was rescued after more than 40 hours of operation by multiple agencies, including a team of Indian Army. The child, however, could not survive. The incident prompted the state administration to order the suspension of two senior officials from Janpad Teonthar for alleged negligence.

On July 29, a three-year-old girl Saumya Shah fell into a borewell near her home in Singrauli and died after she was rescued following an hours-long rescue operation.

Eight-year-old boy Lokesh Ahirwar died after falling into a borewell in Vidisha district in December 2023. Following that tragedy, the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials and ordered for inspection of borewells across the state.

In another similar incident, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl Srishti Kushwaha died after falling into a borewell on June 6, 2023, in the Sehore district. She had fallen into the borewell while playing outside her house and was stuck at a depth of around 25 feet. Srishti's body was recovered by the Army after an hours-long rescue operation.

On December 6, 2023, a four-year-old girl Mahi was rescued from a borewell in Rajgarh district of the state but died in a hospital within a few hours. One week before, Mahi, a three-year-old girl died in Betul in a similar incident.

In July last year, the state government had said those who would not cover their borewells would be punished. The government had also made a provision for strict punishment against the borewell owners, even if they were parents of the victims.

The administration had carried out an inspection to find open borewells in the state. Despite the efforts, children continued to become the victim of the borewell tragedy.