The stormwater drain department of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has invited tenders worth Rs 30 crore for the repair and maintenance of manholes in Mumbai.
An officer related to it said, "If we found broken potholes or if our employees receive complaints of leaking water from the manholes, it will be repaired in the next 12 hours. Accordingly, BMC has invited tenders from the contractors."
There are more than one lakh manholes in Mumbai city and suburbs. Drainage lines of Mumbai are of the British era. Many of them are damaged, therefore, sometimes sewage water comes out through the manholes. It also creates health-related issues in the locality.
Number of manholes in the city | FPJ
Sometimes, accidents occur because of damaged manholes. There are some incidents where human beings have fallen into manholes. According to the officer, the appointed contractor will be given a two-year contract.
Till the November end, BMC installed around 5,792 protective grills over manholes on stormwater drains and sewerage networks across the city. These protective grills are to protect people from falling down in manholes even if theyare left open during flooding.
However, it has been noticed that the manhole cover gets stolen at many places as it fetches between Rs 3,000-5,000.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court pulled up BMC for open manholes and said the civic officials officers will be responsible if someone falls into the manholes.
The civic body has started repairing damaged manholes and replacing broken ones. The ward-level employees are monitoring the manholes, said the civic official.
