'Mend manholes or face police action'

It’s time to take open manholes seriously. Civic agency officials responsible for leaving manholes open or pits uncovered will be put behind bars. Police will register a case against the accused for ''negligence'' for leaving even a single manhole open anywhere in the Capital.

Beat police officers will identify manholes and if found open, they will inform the government agency concerned. If officials do not take action immediately, they will be booked for negligence.

Taking note of open manholes and pits becoming a death trap for pedestrians and motorists as well, Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna recently sent a letter to police chief Neeraj Kumar to take action against officials responsible for leaving manholes open. Khanna also asked him to check and monitor uncovered drains.

The police commissioner had issued a circular in August first week to all police officers, including station house officers, to look out for uncovered manholes, drains and pits. According to the notice, all beat officers across the Capital will have to check for open manholes in their respective areas on a regular basis.

If beat constables find any uncovered manhole, they will have to report immediately to their respective station house officer about it, the notice stated.

It will then be the station house officer’s responsibility to inform the government officials concerned regarding the uncovered manhole, and ask them to cover it within a deadline.Despite this, if the official leaves the manhole open, the station house officer will file a case of negligence against him or her. Since the police chief wrote the memo, beat constables have started looking out for open manholes and pits.
New Delhi Municipal Council, 3 municipal corporations , Delhi Jal Board and the public works department (for roads 60-foot wide and above) are responsible for taking care of cleanliness of drains in the city.

Due to lack of coordination, officials of these departments generally leave manholes and drains open without any precautionary signboard.