2,205 Mumbai manholes still lack safety grills days after Saki Naka death, shows BMC data

Days after a 55-year-old man lost his life after falling into a sewer manhole, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) records show that 2,205 sewer manholes across Mumbai are yet to be fitted with protective grills or manhole covers as a safety measure.

The disclosure comes a day after the Bombay High Court questioned the civic authorities over measures to secure open manholes. The BMC told the court that all open manholes would be equipped with protective grills within a week.

The pending work also comes despite the BMC’s monsoon preparedness guidelines requiring all such installations to be completed by May 31, unless there is an extraordinary situation. In May, Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide had directed that all manholes be fitted with protective grills by the deadline.

The BMC told the court that all open manholes would be equipped with protective grills within a week. (Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

Speaking to The Indian Express, civic officials said the installation work is underway and will now be completed by July 26.

According to BMC records, the highest number of pending installations is in C ward, which covers the densely populated Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar areas of south Mumbai, where 637 manholes are yet to be fitted with protective grills. This is followed by 352 in A ward, which houses several government offices, commercial establishments and residential areas. The data also show 242 pending manholes in E ward (Byculla), 228 in M West ward (Chembur) and 200 in N ward (Ghatkopar), the home constituency of Mayor Ritu Tawde.

A civic report prepared on June 26 said the installation of protective grills across all wards would be completed by July 11, except in C ward, where officials fixed a 30-day deadline ending July 26. Officials said the work was expected to take longer in C ward because more than 600 manholes are located on narrow roads that remain heavily congested through the day.

Open manholes have remained a recurring hazard during Mumbai’s monsoon. On July 2, Aslam Esaf Shaikh, 55, died after falling into an open manhole in Saki Naka. Following the incident, a preliminary inquiry found that the BMC had not issued a formal work order to the contractor for carrying out the installation work. Four officials were subsequently suspended.

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In May, Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide had directed that all manholes be fitted with protective grills by the deadline.

(Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

However, civic officials said delays in road concreting had pushed back the installation of protective grills. “More than 2,000 protective grills are to be installed by the roads department. However, ward offices had to wait for road concreting works to be completed before starting the installation. Since the concreting was finished only by May 31, the work of installing the grills was delayed,” a civic official said on condition of anonymity.

“One of the primary challenges that we are facing is that many of these manholes are located in the middle of busy roads. As a result, the installation works can only be carried out during brief windows at night when traffic is minimal,” the official added.

BMC records show there are 73,437 sewer manholes in Mumbai, of which 68,619 already have manhole covers. Another 1,583 are currently buried or inaccessible, while work to install protective grills is underway.

Speaking to The Indian Express, civic officials said the installation work is underway and will now be completed by July 26. (Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

Inspections from next January

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said the BMC will begin its annual inspection of manholes from January next year, advancing the exercise by nearly two months from the usual March-April pre-monsoon schedule.

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“At present, all manholes in Mumbai have been geotagged, and our ward offices have real-time data on their condition and quality. The number of damaged or uncovered manholes is negligible. The issue primarily stems from inadequate monitoring at the ward level. We are working to strengthen supervision and further augment our monitoring system,” Bhide said. She added that commencing inspections in January would provide the civic body with a longer lead time to identify deficiencies and undertake corrective measures well before the onset of the monsoon.