MUMBAI: BMC has finalized tenders for placing protective mild steel nets below 1,800 manholes located in low-lying, flood-prone areas after five months when gastroenterologist Dr Deepak Amarapurkar fall into an open manhole on Senapati Bapat Road on a heavy rain day and drowned.
“We plan to place protective steel nets below all drains across the city. In the first phase, we will cover only 1,800 manholes in low-lying areas and complete the work before May 15”, municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal said.
Civic officials plan to complete the work before the arrival of monsoon this year.
The BMC will spend around Rs 1.5 crore on these nets. Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta said that the design for the nets will be finalized within a month.
Opposition leader in the BMC Ravi Raja claimed that the civic body “wakes up only when lives are lost. This should have been implemented long ago so that a precious life was not lost”.
Citizen-activist G R Vora said that the protective nets should have no resale value so that they won’t get stolen.