The Civil Defense plans to build robots that will help its officers rescue people who fall into wells.

Maj. Gen. Suleiman Al-Amro, director general of the Civil Defense, said recently that the Kingdom has over 400,000 wells, many of them illegal, which made it imperative to improve the organization’s rescue operations.

He said the directorate had asked the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and several international companies years ago to manufacture a robot for this purpose.

Al-Amro was speaking at a workshop entitled “Hazards of Drilled Wells: Challenges and Solutions.”

He said the plan to develop a robot was important because of the challenges faced by the Civil Defense and other bodies to carry out rescues.

There are so many wells on farms, at homes, rest houses and in the desert. The Kingdom is one of the few countries in the world that has so many wells, he said.

He said the Civil Defense and the Ministries of Agriculture and Water and Electricity have been working together to identify and close illegal wells. Others still in use have been cordoned off.

Al-Amro said the role of the Civil Defense is to warn the public if any of these wells are a threat to public safety. It was also involved with other bodies in granting permits for wells and overseeing drilling operations.

The government would prosecute those whose wells people have fallen into, he said.

He said the Civil Defense has carried out several successful rescues over the past years, but have faced problems in some operations where the soil is too soft and water present.

The workshop participants watched a film on the dangers and hazards of neglected and randomly drilled wells, and the hardships faced by members of the Civil Defense in handling rescues.

Brig. Gen Khaled Al-Thula’an, head of the workshop’s organizing committee, was optimistic the Civil Defense and its partners would develop a plan to counter the threat from these wells.

Al-Thula’an said robots and other rescue methods would have to be part of the plan. It should also take into account previous experience in these operations.