More than a week after a 55-year-old man lost his life after falling into an open sewage manhole on Khairani Road in Sakinaka, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has stated that it cannot guarantee every manhole in the city will always be equipped with protective safety nets, describing the task as an ongoing process.
Addressing the issue during a discussion in the civic house, Additional Municipal Commissioner Vipin Sharma said protective nets have been installed on all identified manholes. However, he explained that new manhole chambers are regularly created during road and utility works, while some existing safety nets are removed, stolen or found missing over time.
“We can never say that there isn’t a single manhole chamber left without a safety net because this is a continuous process. Whenever a net is found to be missing or a new chamber is created, it has to be fitted,” Sharma said.
According to the BMC, the city has more than one lakh manholes connected to its stormwater drainage and sewerage network. Of these, 96,383 have been fitted with protective safety nets. Around 1,800 manholes were previously buried during road works, while 4,446 were reopened for various infrastructure projects. The civic body said covers and safety nets are being reinstalled as these projects are completed.
Sharma also informed the civic house that the inquiry into the Sakinaka incident is nearing completion and the findings are expected to be submitted next week. The investigation is examining whether the contractor working at the site had a valid work order or if the project was being executed during the defect liability period (DLP).
Officials associated with the probe said investigators are also trying to determine which department authorised the work, as local ward staff have claimed they were unaware of the activity on Khairani Road.
“It’s not possible that the work could have been carried out without any civic staff having commissioned it and therefore we are checking on this fact in detail. The civic staffers, who were suspended following this incident, have submitted their statements,” an official said.
The issue of open manholes has remained under scrutiny following several such incidents in recent years, with the Bombay High Court repeatedly seeking updates from the BMC on measures being taken to improve public safety across the city.
Source: The Times of India
