High court-appointed advocate panel begins inspection of manholes in Mumbai

On Wednesday, the inspection occurred in the G-South ward covering Worli, Prabhadevi and Lower Parel areas in South Mumbai. According to civic officials, a team of officials is accompanying the advocate who is carrying out physical verification of all the spots with manholes in that particular ward.

“Based on findings, each advocate will prepare a joint report with the civic officials, and the collective report of all the 24 wards will be submitted to the high court in three weeks,” said an official.

The civic officials on August 21 submitted a certificate to the municipal commissioner and the government-appointed administrator, Iqbal Singh Chahal, stating all the manholes in Mumbai had been covered with lids and there were no open manholes at their respective wards.

“Each ward officer inspected manholes and submitted a report stating on Monday morning that all the manholes had been covered. Also, one needs to understand that keeping the manholes covered is dynamic, and the data gives a report till Monday. If any maintenance hole gets damaged or goes missing tomorrow, that will not be counted under this report,” Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, had told The Indian Express on Monday.

According to the civic body’s official figures, 74,682 manholes in Mumbai fall under its jurisdiction. The BMC has installed protective grills in 6,308 manholes, while the rest are being covered with conventional concrete covers and metal discs. In his response to the Bombay high court, Chahal also said that by 2024, all the manholes in Mumbai will have protective grills fixed in them.