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BMC to install safety nets in 1 lakh manholes

The BMC will now fix safety nets in around one lakh manholes in the city

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Disaster relief team searching for Dr Deepak Amarapurkar in a manhole
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The tragic death of 58-year-old Dr Deepak Amarapurkar has prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take steps to prevent such accidents from occurring in the future.

Dr Amarapurkar was a reputed gastroenterologist of Bombay Hospital who died after he fell into an open manhole while wading through waist-deep water near Elphinstone bridge during the heavy rains lashed the city on August 29.

The BMC will now fix safety nets in around one lakh manholes in the city. A three-member fact-finding committee, set up by civic chief Ajoy Mehta to probe the circumstances leading to Dr Amarapurkar's death, had suggested installation of one layer of netting as an immediate measure. The total cost of the work will be around Rs 70 crore.

The work of fitting safety nets just below the covers will be carried out in a phase-wise manner. Each net costs around Rs 7,000 and it will take a minimum of 2.5 hours to complete work on each manhole. "Since both cost and time is quite high, we will first fix manholes in important areas," a BMC official said.

The civic body will concentrate first on areas which experience water-logging after the slightest rainfall. "We will prioritise the work depending upon need and urgency," said the official. He added that major water-logging areas will be covered before the next monsoon arrives in the city. "Eventually every manhole in the city will have a safety net," said the official.

The BMC received flak for negligence after Dr Amarapurkar's death. The fact-finding committee had, however, given a clean chit to civic officials, stating instead that some residents had removed the manhole cover.

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