Almost immediately after the Free Press Journal carried news on Saturday, highlighting the apathy of the civic administration towards uncovered and broken manholes, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) swung into action and started installing Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) lids on the yawning death traps.
On July 31, a 37-year-old painter had died after slipping into an open manhole in the Sheetal Nagar area of Mira Road.
After the incident, locals had blamed gross negligence by the civic administration for the tragedy as it could have been anyone including senior citizens or children who may have met with the same fate due to missing cover on the newly constructed drain- especially during the ongoing monsoon.
FPJ Impact: MBMC covers open and broken manholes at Mira Road | Suresh Golani
There are around 14,000 manholes in the twin-city; however, several are either lidless or have broken covers.
While the PWD handles the job, the onus of day-to-day supervision and keeping track of the lids on manholes rests on the shoulders of the ward officer and the sanitary inspector of the civic body.
