Following three deaths due to falling into wells, accidental and otherwise, within the last ten days, the Coimbatore city corporation, has decided to cover the open wells. The corporation will be assisted by various NGOs in the task of identifying and mapping such open wells.

The idea comes after a boy and an adult fell into the well and died near Kovaipudhur and Pappampatti Pirivu respectively.

According to R. Raveendran, of the Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC), the NGOs had suggested the Corporation to identify the wells using Google maps, with the help of local authorities.

“Most of the ward councillors and sanitary officers know about these wells, and it will be useful if they too are involved in the process,” he said.

He further said that the officials should mark the wells on Google maps, which would help identify the number of wells in each ward.

“We can then work on ways to cover the wells after checking if they belong to private parties or the Corporation,” he said, adding that fencing or putting up parapets around such wells would help avert accidental falls.

Meanwhile, Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan said, “I think we can do a ward-wise evaluation of the wells in the city and follow up on that. It is difficult, but it can be done”.

It may be noted that while 10-year-old Akash slipped and fell into the well in Kovaipudhur, Ramesh fell into the waters when he was reportedly trying to chop down a sandalwood tree, near Chettipalayam in Pappampatti Pirivu on Wednesday.