India's Deadly Open Wells

Villagers lower a ladder to a leopard trapped in a well.
Photo: Caters News Agency

A leopard was recently rescued by villagers in Dhundi, a village in central India near Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The story, with video, immediately went viral on Monday, June 4. It's a heartwarming story of human kindness.

But it is also a story about human carelessness. Far too often, leopards and other animals fall into vast, open wells. The lucky ones are rescued. "Another leopard was also rescued from a well using the same technique last month, after it had fallen into a well" near the same tiger reserve, reports The Daily Mail.

In May, Times Of India reported that, "An adult male leopard, estimated to be 4-5 years old, was rescued from a partially full well at Tudal, Gaondongorim, by range forest staff on Saturday."

In another report, in April, the Times reported that, "A five-year-old leopard, which fell into a 15m deep well was rescued on Saturday morning by forest officials. The leopard fell into the well while chasing a dog."


The Daily Mail reported on the rescue of a leopard from a well in late April. The cat fell 40 feet into the water while chasing a mongoose. Their story includes a video of a dog being rescued from a well.

In March, The Hindu newspaper reported that, "A two-year-old leopard that had fallen into a dry well in a village in Tumakuru district was rescued with the help of a wooden ladder." Wooden ladders seem to be a favored method of rescuing the big cats.

Mahi Upadhyay died after falling into an open well.
Photo via Aljazeera

There are hundreds more stories of leopards and other animals being rescued from open, unprotected wells in India. It's no mystery why animals fall into the wells. They're chasing prey or, in some cases, being chased. The don't see the big hole and down they go. Sometimes, a human falls in.

In June, 2012 four-year old Mahi Upadhyay died before she could be saved after falling into an open well. Aljazeera reported that the rescue wento on for about 85 hours, during which "more than 100 rescue workers drawn from the army and fire brigade, worked alongside neighbourhood residents to remove her from the narrow 68ft (21m) well - without success." According to Aljazeera, "doctors said Mahi had been dead for days, and possibly died from a lack of oxygen within half an hour of falling into the well."

Aljazeera's report pointed out that, "Mahi isn't the first young victim of a borewell carelessly left open in India." Much of the blame goes to illegal drilling for water. "In the past few years, several children have fallen into these open wells, most of which are illegally drilled in order to extract water in areas where groundwater is depleting."

Just hours after Mahi's body was recovered from the well, reported Aljazeera, "a 17-year-old boy fell into an open well in Howrah in the eastern state of West Bengal. A team of reportedly ill-equipped rescue workers pulled out the boy's corpse some 10 hours later." (Read the full story by reporter Sudha G. Tilak here.)

The Wildlife Society of Odisha has urged government "to barricade open wells with a view to saving animals, especially the elephants, which fall into them and die," Telegraph India reported last December.

The article the misfortunes of many other animals that fell into these unbarricaded wells.

"While most of the 85 animals were rescued, 12 animals, including seven elephants, died. Other wild animals, which had fallen into open wells, included sloth bear, rattle, pangolin, spotted and barking deer, wild boar, monitor lizard, jungle cat and fishing cat, the survey indicated."

Funny thing about India. They have some of the world's best technicians, scientists and doctors. They have a space program. But they just can't seem to figure out how to put a simple barricade over an open water well.