Al-Jazirah

Rescuers in Spain took two weeks searching for two-year-old Julen Rosello who fell down a 100-meter well. They continued digging for two weeks but to no avail. Mine workers, who usually have vast experience in this field, jumped in and helped the rescuers but even their efforts did not help to rescue the toddler. Finally the lifeless body of the toddler was found. Sadness prevailed.

In such incidents, especially those related to uncovered artesian wells, it can take weeks and sometimes months of searching in order to find the victim. What occurred in Spain reminds us of the tragic event in Tabuk in March 2014 that claimed the life of Lama Al-Rouqi. That proved to be challenging as the rescuers took a long time before finding Lama dead. When we look at such incidents around the world, we can clearly see the danger of uncovered wells, which are often found on the outskirts of a city and in sparsely populated places.

We have read about similar incidents that have taken place in our country claiming the lives of innocent people because of the greed of the owners of uncovered wells. We need to report uncovered wells to the authorities in order to save innocent people, especially nowadays when it rains a lot.

The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has initiated a project called “Reporting an uncovered well can save a soul” in collaboration with the Civil Defense. Picnickers should cooperate with authorities and report any uncovered well they find and send coordinates to the pertinent authority so that they can take action. The ministry needs to launch an application for this purpose in order to allow the general public to report such incidents easily and quickly. I believe such an application will help reduce the number of these tragic incidents. Needless to say, the owners of such wells should be punished for leaving them uncovered.

Twitter: @fahdbinjleid