manhole

BMC

gastroenterologist Dr Deepak Amrapurkar

Prabhadevi

Thakur Village

Soch Sayani Citizens

Kandivali Residents Paint Manholes to draw BMC's Attention 01:16

Moved by Dr Deepak Amrapurkar’s death last year, when he fell into aduring the deluge on August 29, Kandivali residents are ‘drawing’’s attention to open manholes.Residents of Kandivali (E) have launched a campaign to ensure there are no open manhole-related casualties in their area this monsoon. The residents have created artwork around a dozen open manholes, in a bid to embarrass the BMC officials and get those covered. While the local ward official has claimed no knowledge of the campaign, at least six manholes ‘decorated’ by the residents’ artwork now have lids over them.The residents said the deluge of August 29 last year, during which noteddied after falling into a manhole while on his way home in, played on their minds when many of them spotted such manholes during their daily routine over the last few days.“Many among us spoke about spotting open manholes near our children’s schools, outside restaurants and banks, and near public gardens. We decided to get together and do something about it, because what happened to Dr Amrapurkar can happen to anyone,” saidresident Harsha Udupi, the founder of’ Group that led a campaign to ban plastic bags in the area long before the state government put the plastic ban in place.For the last few weeks, residents, mostly women, get together near the open manholes every weekend, to make sure nobody misses one. A similar experiment was carried out by Bengaluru residents last year, when they painted around potholes, created artificial ponds by colouring the rain water blue, and even installed a fake crocodile in one of the craters.“We surveyed 10 roads and found 20 open manholes and drains in Thakur Village alone. It costs us around Rs 1,000 to paint around one manhole, but it doesn’t matter as long as we are able to draw the authorities’ attention,” Udupi said.Kandivali homemaker Rupa Basu, who drew an octopus around one of the open manholes, said she wanted to convey that there was no way out if one fell into a manhole, “just like an octopus’ prey that cannot escape its clutches”. Another resident, Alka Rathod, said the campaign has given a fresh lease of energy to the participants. “We painted a monster with its eyes on the broken lids of a manhole. I can happily report that the broken lid was replaced with a new one the same day,” Rathod said.Assistant Municipal Commissioner (R-South) Sanjay Kurhade, in whose jurisdiction the manholes have been painted, said the BMC goes about its job of maintaining the manholes as per schedule. “I’m not aware of any such campaign by the residents,” he said.