High cost, maintenance: Smart manhole project on back-burner

A year after the pilot project to launch “smart manhole covers” across 14 locations of the city found itself in doldrums, the BMC had, in August 2024, revived its plan by roping in agencies to install smart sensors on manhole covers in B ward’s Sandhurst road and D ward’s Grant Road on a trial basis.

The objective behind the revival was to rectify the errors faced in the implementation of the pilot project. However, the trial run at the new locations has failed to yield satisfactory results.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the official said that the installation of smart covers not only incur high expenses but were also failing to improve security.

“Where a normal cover costs Rs 5,000, the smart covers can cost anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 75,000. Even the recurring costs were high as the battery required replacement and the SIM-card, on which the sensor operates, needs annual recharging, etc.,” the official said.

The city is home to over one lakh manhole covers of which 74,682 cover sewer line manholes, while more than 25,000 cover SWD drains.

“There were also significant technical challenges. For instance, the data pertaining to the time when the covers were being moved, was not entirely accurate in some places, especially during rains. In other situations, there were network problems affecting data collection,” he added.

In light of unsatisfactory results, the official said that while the research is still underway, the plan has been put on the back-burner. “We have directed our focus on the installation of the protective grills under the covers.

We have already completed installation of grills beneath 99 per cent of the city’s manholes. Whenever an agency approaches us with a new technology for smart manholes, we are allowing them to run trials on select covers,” the official said.

The project to install smart sensors on city’s manhole covers was envisaged in 2023, amid an alarming spike in the theft of manhole covers after the Covid pandemic. In 2024, nearly 220 cover thefts were recorded until June. Once stolen, the open manholes become dangerous, causing fatalities and injuries.

Amid heavy rain on September 26, 45-year-old Vimala Anil Gaikwad lost her life after falling into an open Storm Water Drain (SWD) outlet at Andheri East’s MIDC area. Following this, the BMC had launched a high-level probe into the issue.