The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation started covering manholes with iron safety nets after Dr Amrapurkar drowned in an open manhole last monsoon. So far, the civic body has covered 1,425 manholes withsafety nets and has proposed to cover another 1,311 in the coming months at a cost of Rs 1.21 crore.
After the death of Dr Amrapurkar, the BMC identified around 1,600 manholes in the low lying areas, mainly in South Mumbai. Thereafter, 1,425 manholes in South Mumbai’s low lying and flood-prone areas were covered with nets. Now, the civic body plans to cover 1,311 more manholes.
As per the proposal, 342 more manholes will be covered with safety nets in SoBo, and 422 and 547 manholes will be covered in eastern and western suburbs, respectively. These include circular as well as rectangle covers of various sizes.
“We identified the manholes that need safety nets on priority. We prioritised the ones located in low-lying areas,” said a BMC official.
Open manholes have proven to be death holes for citizens. Sometimes manhole covers are removed by locals to drain rainwater, at other times, the covers are stolen. As per norms, the civic body is supposed to station someone near open manholes. However, most often, people have hurt themselves after falling inside open manholes, especially when the streets are waterlogged and there is no one to notify the pedestrians.
