Mumbai: BMC moves to secure 90,000 manholes, one week before monsoon

A man tests the strength of a safety grill on a manhole

Five years after famous gastroenterologist Dr Deepak Amrapurkar's death, the BMC has decided to put safety grills on all the manholes in the city, barely a week before the monsoon. Until now, only manholes at flooding spots were shielded.

The move follows a meeting the chief minister held with the civic chief recently. City politicians and activists, however, questioned why it took the civic body five years to do what should have been done after the tragic death of renowned Dr Amrapurkar. Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh asked if the current move was in view of the upcoming BMC polls.

Moreover, with the monsoon just a week away, there is the question of whether the BMC would be able to secure all the manholes. As of now, less than 4 per cent of the manholes in the city are safe. The BMC has put a safety net on 3,679 manholes in Mumbai and its suburbs. This year the civic body installed 250 protective grills on manholes, and 50 will be installed in the coming week.

Dr Amrapurkar fell into an open manhole while walking through stagnant rainwater at Prabhadevi on August 29, 2017. His body was found at Worli seashore on August 31, 2017. A year after his demise, the BMC decided to make the manholes safe by installing protective grills, but secured only the ones in flood-prone areas. In July 2018, a youth died after falling into a manhole in Malad. In October 2020, a woman died in Ghatkopar. Last year, the locals in Bhandup rescued two women who had fallen into a manhole.

In a recent pre-monsoon meeting, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey ordered all manholes to be secured with an iron grill. According to sources, BMC chief I S Chahal ordered the authorities to install the grills. Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu said, "BMC is working on it and we are putting grills on manholes."

"We have already started working to make the manholes safe. The work had been underway for the past two years. We are covering the manholes in a phased manner," said Chahal. Shaikh, who first proposed this idea, slammed the BMC, saying, "We had repeatedly demanded protective grills on all manholes, but the authorities ignored it. A woman died two years ago, and still the authorities did not secure manholes." They remembered it now ahead of civic polls, he added.

Civic activist Anil Galgali said, "It's really shocking that the BMC took the decision after five years. Why did they waste five years? How many manholes will be safe before the monsoon?" he asked. Galali hoped that the BMC works fast and secure all manholes before monsoon. According to reports, "theft of manhole covers is a frequent occurrence, and all the manholes are inspected before the monsoon," said a BMC official. "If BMC employees remove manhole covers to drain the rainwater, a red flag is put up on the spot to warn of danger," said Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu.

Manhole figures

>> Mumbai and its suburbs have about 95,000 manholes
>> Mumbai city has 2,945 manholes with protective grills
>> Eastern Suburbs has 293 manholes with protective grills
>> Western Suburbs has 441 manholes with protective grills
>> Cost of one protective grill is Rs 10,000