Can the civic body just get its act together!

Representation pic

We lost a 55-year-old man in Andheri's Saki Naka area on Thursday, a grim and tragic manhole casualty. Workers/contract labourers often open manholes during the monsoon for cleaning, repairs, maintenance or some other reason.

While doing so, safety measures and caution are thrown to the wind. When open for whatever reason, there are shockingly no on-the-ground precautions.

The site needs to be barricaded immediately. This may be for a few minutes of work, but we must remember that it only takes a minute or two of a lapse in concentration or no visibility to fall into a manhole. This man was slightly distracted, talking on his mobile phone and subsequently paid with his life. Where were the basic safety precautions like proper barricades, signage that work is on, reflective signage that is visible on overcast, dark days or even human supervision, which is necessary at the site?

While this is about a manhole specifically and relates to the monsoon, it is important to know that caution signage, barricades and supervision should be part of any and all infra repair and maintenance work in any season.

The barricades need to be put in such a way that they cannot or should not be moved unless by those authorised to do so. Warning signs on site should be clear and visible from a distance. In many scenarios, it is possible to put signs much before one comes to the actual place itself, so people may have an option to continue on another route. Human life is precious; it must be treated as such. There is no use suspending people; we refuse to learn lessons from the past.