Bombay High Court seeks report on grills for manholes

Bombay High Court (File)

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the municipal corporation to file an affidavit stating the number of protective grills installed on manholes to prevent untoward incidents.

In March, the corporation had told the court that they had floated a tender for installing iron grills just below the opening of manholes so that even if the manhole is open, nobody can fall into it, thus preventing any mishap or causality. Lawyer Sujay Kantawala, appearing for the petitioner, told The Indian Express that the court had asked the corporation to give details through an affidavit stating how many grills have been installed in manholes so far and the status report of the work. The court has kept the matter for hearing on June 21.

The court was hearing a PIL filed last year seeking that a case of negligence be registered against the civic chief and other Brihammumbai Municipal Corporation officials for the death of leading gastroenterologist Dr Deepak Amrapurkar on August 29. Amrapurkar’s body was found in Worli in August, 2017, after he fell into an open manhole near his house in Prabhadevi. The PIL, filed by the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association, has claimed that Amrapurkar fell into the open manhole as there was no ‘danger’ sign or barricade near it.