Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is taking various measures to secure manholes in Mumbai. The civic body's sewerage department has started the tender process for installing protective netting on manholes in three wards. The experiment will be carried out in R South, C, and D wards. Sources in the sewerage department said the installation of these nets will start immediately after the tender process is completed before the monsoon.
The sewerage department has 74,000 manholes in Mumbai and the rainwater harvesting department has more than 25,000 manholes. Efforts are being made by the BMC to protect these manholes. Over the past year and a half, manholes have been in a state of disrepair because of theft or non-availability of lids, damage or breaking of lids, etc. The Chief Minister has asked to register a case directly if the manhole lid is stolen. In a recent hearing, the Bombay High Court pulled up the BMC over the issue of open manholes. The High Court has also directed the civic body to install protective nets.
Accordingly, the sewerage department of the BMC has planned to install stainless steel, fiber, and ductile nets. The three types of nets will be installed on manholes under sewerage in the eastern suburbs, western suburbs, and city areas. About 6,500 of the manholes have been fitted with simple metal mesh.
During monsoon, manholes on rainwater channels and sewerage lines are opened due to waterlogging. Residents don't notice that the lid is open in the stagnant water. Therefore, there is a high probability of an accident by falling into a manhole. For this, iron mesh is being installed under the manhole lid. With this mesh, even if the lid is opened after the water has receded, there will be no danger of falling into the manhole.