‘BMC will be held responsible for accidents due to open manholes’
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) would be responsible if any untoward incident happened due to open manholes in the city.
“Good that you (BMC) are working but till then if harm is caused to anyone, we will hold you responsible. We are appreciating the BMC but what happens if a manhole is open and someone falls inside,” said a division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Abhay Ahuja.
“In such a situation, we won’t ask the aggrieved person to file a civil suit (for compensation). We will say that your officers are responsible,” it added.
BMC’S counsel, senior advocate Anil Sakhare, informed the court that the civic body was addressing the issue of open manholes and work was going on to close all of them.
The bench suggested that the civic body should make use of modern technology and devise something by which the officer concerned is alerted when the lid of a manhole is removed.
“Why don’t you come up with something like a sensor which will alert the officer concerned, if the lid of a manhole is removed,” the bench told Sakhare. “You must do some progressive thinking. We cannot keep saying what needs to be done.” The bench further stressed the need for a standard operating procedure to address the issue of open manholes as a permanent measure.
The court was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations (PIL) raising concerns over the bad condition of roads and the increasing number of potholes across the state. During a hearing on an earlier occasion on the bunch of PILS, the court had taken note of a 62-year-old woman from Virar dying after she fell in an open manhole on November 7.
In the wake of the incident, the court sought the BMC to come up with a permanent solution. The court has posted the bunch of PILS for further hearing on December 19.