MCG considers geo-tagging manhole covers in Gurugram to avert accidents

Five days after a 34-year-old man died after he fell into a manhole that was lying open, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has started exploring the option of geo-tagging manhole covers so as to end the menace of manhole cover thefts.

Officials said there are over 3,000 sewers across the city under the civic agencies and they are exploring the option of geo-tagging manhole covers so that the missing ones are promptly replaced for the safety of citizens.

Police said the victim, Dinesh Kumar, a native of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, was walking towards the bus stand in Badshahpur when he fell through the manhole that was lying open for the past many days. Kumar was reported missing a day later on April 14 and his body was recovered after seven days, police said.

PC Meena, MCG commissioner, said theft of manhole covers is rampant in the city and replacing them puts an additional financial burden on the civic agency. “To ensure safety of these covers, we are exploring all options and one of them is the geo-tagging of manhole covers. We launched an internal probe into the man’s death and found that some residents removed the manhole cover to hasten the pace of water drainage when a few nearby lanes got waterlogged and some miscreants later stole the cover, probably to fund their liquor and drugs,” he said.

The executive engineer of the sanitation wing has now been tasked to barricade open manholes temporarily and get the covers replaced within a time frame, said officials.

Meena said they are discussing the project with the engineers and the technical team. “Initially, we used to replace the lids constructed of hardening concrete and geo-polymer concrete but once the plan is finalised, we will fix QR codes on covers. If anyone tries to remove it, an alert will be received at the civic department concerned and officials can track the movement of the cover after that,” he said.

The GIS database of sewerage network will be developed by using the field survey data, he said.

MCG officials said in the meantime, to tackle the situation, they have formed teams to monitor manholes, open drains and sewers. “They have been asked to carry out daily inspections and if they find any open manhole, they have been asked to barricade it and to put up a signboard to alert pedestrian,” Meena said.

Officials said they are planning to use an effective web-based monitoring system that can map the sewerage network across the city. Once the mapping is done, it would help the teams to curb manhole cover thefts better.

Meena said they will invite tenders once the road map is ready. “Our teams have been asked to conduct a detailed field survey and how it can be connected to local command centre for monitoring,” he said.

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