Karnal, July 4 -- According to data provided by the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) last year, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)-India's premier specialised force tasked with responding to natural and man-made disasters-has succeeded in only half of the rescue operations during borewell tragedies that occurred between 2020 and 2025. This response was shared by the Union jal shakti ministry in the Lok Sabha in reply to a query about borewell deaths. The numbers revealed that between 2020 and 2025, the NDRF carried out 37 rescue operations for children trapped in borewells across India, of which, only 17 were successful. According to an NDRF report "Borewell Rescue Precis", between 2009 and 2017, over 40 children fell into borewells in various states, with a maximum of seven each in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. The most mournful fact, NDRF says, is that 92% of the victims were under the age of 10, who were playing around the borewell unaware that the shaft was waiting for them in the form of a death trap. "The overall spending on the rescue operations could sum up to Rs.50 lakh to Rs.1 crore and even after such attempts many lives are lost," the force said in its synopsis. The report also mentions that there are approximately 27 million borewells in India, which are dug due to water scarcity, low rainfall, drought and depletion of underground water. However, a borewell dug will not always fetch water. Sometimes, borewells dug several hundred feet deep remain dry. Borewells that do not fetch adequate water or any water are usually abandoned, remain open and actually become deadly pits called "death holes". On Wednesday, four-year-old Nirvair Singh was pulled out dead from a 220-foot deep borewell after a 21-hour long rescue operation in Ambala Cantonment. The boy accidentally stepped into the open borewell while playing in front of his grandfather. A team of the Indian Army, NDRF and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) carried out the operation, suffering multiple setbacks due to water in the shaft which had a narrow 9-inch diameter. Finally at 3.30 am, he was pulled out dead. Autopsy revealed death due to traumatic injuries and drowning. SP Ajit Singh Shekhawat confirmed that three men have been booked for the death due to negligence, but no arrest has been made so far....