Mumbai: A 55-year-old man died after falling into an open manhole in Mumbai amid heavy rain on Thursday, prompting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to suspend four civic officials, blacklist the contractor involved and order a high-level probe, officials said.
The incident occurred in the Chandivali area in the western suburbs and is the second rain-related death reported in the city this week.
According to BMC officials, contractual workers had removed the manhole cover to install a protective grill on a sewer line along Khariani Road when Aslam Ishaq Shaikh fell into the opening.
CCTV footage showed Shaikh walking past a tempo before disappearing into the open manhole in the Kurla-Sakinaka area.
Fire brigade and civic disaster management teams launched a search operation, and Shaikh was later located some distance away from the spot where he had fallen.
“A fireman equipped with breathing apparatus descended into the underground line and he was pulled out,” an official said.
Shaikh was taken to the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The BMC suspended Assistant Commissioner Dhanaji Herlekar, Assistant/Sub-Engineer (Maintenance) Deepak Chougule, Junior Engineer (Maintenance) Abhijit Chougule and Assistant Engineer (Sewerage Operations) Uttam Patil.
Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide constituted a high-level inquiry committee headed by the Additional Municipal Commissioner (Western Suburbs) to investigate the incident and submit a report within seven days.
The civic body also directed all departments to ensure barricading around manhole work sites and ordered a 100 per cent inspection of all manholes across Mumbai within the next eight days.
Mayor Ritu Tawde announced an assistance of ₹10 lakh for Shaikh’s family and said the contractor had been blacklisted.
“I will not tolerate any act that endangers the lives of citizens. Anyone compromising public safety while carrying out work at public places will not be spared,” she said.
The incident triggered sharp political reactions, with leaders across parties demanding accountability and stricter safety measures.
Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal told the Maharashtra assembly that prima facie there were significant lapses in implementing safety protocols and that the mandatory barricading around the open manhole was missing.
This was the second rain-related death in Mumbai this week. An 11-year-old boy was killed and four other children were injured after a roadside tree fell on a school bus in Chembur.