Pedestrians in the suburbs, be careful while wading through a flooded road this monsoon. The civic body will not be fixing protective nets under manholes there to prevent casualties in case any of them are left open.
After the unfortunate death of Dr Deepak Amarapurkar who fell into an open manhole near Elphinstone Road last monsoon, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had decided to fix protective nets under one lakh manholes in Mumbai. A senior civic official from BMC’s storm water drains department (SWD) confirmed that BMC will not be fixing nets under manholes in the suburbs for this monsoon.
A recent review meeting chaired by additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal, in-charge, SWD department, concluded that BMC has fixed nets under 900 manholes – all in the island city.
A SWD department official said, “We shortlisted flood-prone areas only in the island city. We asked ward officials from the suburbs to send us a list of areas where manholes will need an additional protective cover. We received no response.”
“We have identified 1,450 manholes in low-lying flood-prone spots in the city. The remaining nets will be fixed by May-end,” he said. After Amarpurkar’s death last year, BMC began exploring safer designs to cover manholes last year. It decided to use protective nets 6ft below the road, at the mouth of manholes. Civic chief Ajoy Mehta, in his budget speech informed that tenders are being floated for the same.
{{/usCountry}}“We have identified 1,450 manholes in low-lying flood-prone spots in the city. The remaining nets will be fixed by May-end,” he said. After Amarpurkar’s death last year, BMC began exploring safer designs to cover manholes last year. It decided to use protective nets 6ft below the road, at the mouth of manholes. Civic chief Ajoy Mehta, in his budget speech informed that tenders are being floated for the same.
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