BMC Misses Deadline Leaving 2205 Mumbai Manholes Unsecured
More than 2,200 sewer manholes across Mumbai remain without protective safety grills, missing the May 31 monsoon preparedness deadline. The delay came to light after the Bombay High Court questioned the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) following the death of 55-year-old Aslam Esaf Shaikh, who fell into an open manhole in Saki Naka on July 2. The highest number of pending installations is in south Mumbai's C ward, which covers the congested Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar areas.
The BMC disclosed the data a day after the Bombay High Court questioned civic authorities over measures to secure open manholes. In response, the BMC told the court that all open manholes would be equipped with protective grills within a week, setting a new completion date of July 26.
According to BMC records, out of 73,437 sewer manholes in Mumbai, 68,619 already have covers, and 1,583 are currently buried or inaccessible. However, 2,205 manholes are still awaiting protective grills.
The highest concentration of unsecured manholes is in C ward, where 637 installations are pending. Other affected areas include A ward with 352 pending installations, E ward (Byculla) with 242, M West ward (Chembur) with 228, and N ward (Ghatkopar) with 200.
Civic officials cited several reasons for the delay, noting that ward offices had to wait for road concreting works to be completed by the roads department before starting the grill installations. Since concreting was only finished by May 31, the work was pushed back.
Additionally, officials stated that carrying out work on busy roads is difficult. In C ward, where more than 600 manholes are located on narrow roads, the work can only be performed during brief night windows when traffic is minimal.
The delay has already had fatal consequences. Following the death of Shaikh in Saki Naka, a preliminary inquiry revealed that the BMC had not issued a formal work order to the contractor for the installation. Four officials were subsequently suspended.
Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide had previously directed in May that all manholes be fitted with protective grills by May 31. Bhide recently announced that the BMC will advance its annual manhole inspections to January next year to provide more lead time before the monsoon.
