‘Covered all open manholes’: officials’ report to BMC chief

The move came after the Bombay High Court on August 11 ordered BMC to inspect manholes at all the 24 municipal wards in Mumbai immediately and ensure that they are covered, directing the administration to submit a ward-wise data within the next three weeks. Following this, Chahal instructed all the ward officials to conduct a ground-level survey and cover all the open manholes, and submit a written report on the same by Monday.

According to BMC’s official figures, there are 74,682 manholes in Mumbai under its jurisdiction, out of which, the civic body has installed protective grills on 6,308 manholes, while the remaining are covered with conventional concrete covers and metal districts.

Replying to the Bombay HC, Chahal had also said that all the manholes in Mumbai will have protective grills fixed on them by 2024. According to BMC data, there are more than 61,000 circular manholes with metal or concrete lids, with nearly 7,200 rectangular manholes. Also, 3,700 manholes are equipped with metal lids since they are opened during scraping of internal drains.

According to BMC officials, concrete lids are more prone to get damaged and metal lids to get stolen. “The point is, Mumbai has manholes of different shapes and so, the protective grills to be installed are customised. This will take some time… to ensure all the manholes have grills on them. We are putting lids to cover them for the time being,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

The local BMC offices pose a big challenge to keep the manhole portals covered, as the lid thefts continue. This week, BMC officials along with Bombay HC advocates are likely to conduct a joint inspection on the current status of all the manholes in Mumbai and prepare a report based on their findings.