No one to man the manholes

Matunga-based activist Nikhil Desai, part of the F-North Ward Citizens Forum, has been taking several rounds of the F/North ward in order to request the authorities to cover the open manholes in his colony. However, his attempts have proven to be futile, not resulting in any solution as the ward has failed to provide a solution for this issue.

Under the RTI, Desai found out that there are close to 20 manholes in bustling areas of Matunga and King's Circle, which have missing covers. Desai informs, "The RTI reply I received clearly states that currently 20 manholes have their covers missing. However, that is not what astonished me. The reason for not covering these manholes is that the ward doesn't have a stock of manhole covers—such a lousy reason is completely unacceptable."

Despite the RTI being filed two months ago, the ward has taken no action. The open manholes are about 10 feet deep and can be extremely dangerous. Four of them are on Kidwai Road. This place sees a daily footfall of thousands of students from the SNDT College and Orion School.
Raj Mehta, a Kidwai Road resident, shares, "So many students use the road so open manholes or partially-covered manholes is extremely perilous. What if someone falls into one of these manholes? Or what if one of the partially-open ones injures someone? Who will take the responsibility?" Temporary covers are placed on these manholes in a haphazard manner.

Alka Sasane, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, F/North ward, said, "The manhole covers are given by central agencies; I'll look into the matter. If the covers are available currently, I will get the work done."