Serious lapse, no barricades or tripod were installed:Bhide

Mumbai: Following the death of a 55-year-old man in an open drain inSakinaka, municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide said on Thursday that preliminaryfindings and CCTV footage pointed to serious lapses in mandatory safetymeasures at the work site. After reviewing CCTV footage, she said theseprecautions were absent.“I saw two workers attempting to warn pedestrians, but there were no properbarricades or tripod installed. People walking in a hurry cannot be expected torely only on verbal instructions. Because mandatory precautions were not taken,the pedestrian fell into the open manhole,” she said.Further, she said the incident was particularly concerning as the safety ofmanholes has been under constant scrutiny by the courts following similaraccidents in the past. “Because of the unsafe condition of manholes, suchincidents have occurred earlier as well. The high court has repeatedly soughtdetails from the BMC on measures being taken to secure manholes across thecity,” she said.The commissioner said Mumbai has 1,03,934 manholes associated with the stormwaterdrain and sewerage network. Of these, 96,383 have already been fitted withprotective safety nets. Around 1,800 manholes had been buried during previousroad works, while 4,446 had to be reopened for ongoing infrastructure projects.As these works are completed, the BMC has been reinstalling covers andprotective safety nets, she said, adding that BMC has submitted an affidavit toHC detailing these measures.

Referring to the Sakinaka incident, Bhide said that in L ward, 75 manholesrequired protective nets as part of ongoing road works. As per the lateststatus, only four manholes were pending, including the one where maintenancework was underway when the accident occurred. “This was a rectangular sewagemanhole with a very heavy cover. During such operations, the contractor,supervisor and workers were required to barricade the site and install a tripodas part of the prescribed safety protocol,” she said.The civic chief said BMC had been conducting regular review meetings and fieldinspections over the past three months, with ensuring protective grills onmanholes emerging as one of its top priorities, particularly at locations whereroad construction required manhole covers to be removed.(Ends)