BMC tells Bombay HC: Over 1500 manholes would be covered in city

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that around 1,500 manholes in the city would be covered to prevent accidents.

BMC lawyer Anil Sakhre said the corporation has already floated tenders for covering some 1,500 potentially-dangerous manholes with iron mesh or grill.

BMC's submission was made before a bench of justices Shantanu Kemkar and M S Karnik which was hearing a public interest litigation.

The PIL was filed after Dr Deepak Amrapurkar, a renowned gastroenterologist from the city, died after falling into an open manhole on a flooded street near his house on August 29 last year.

The petitioners demanded action for preventing such accidents in future.

The BMC lawyer told the high court that in Amrapurkar's case, the manhole had been removed illegally by some local residents so that the flood water could drain off. Police registered cases against them, advocate Sakhre added.

BMC workers never leave manholes open or unattended, the corporation lawyer said.

The court directed the BMC to file an affidavit within two weeks giving details of the proposal to cover manholes with iron grills and the tender floated for the same.