Mumbai: 'Stealing Manhole Cover A Crime,' Observes HC; Seeks Details Of Action Taken Against Such Acts

The Bombay High Court on Monday observed that stealing of manhole covers was a crime and expressed shockthat no criminal complaint was filed.

Acting Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar said, “Stealing of manhole covers is a grave issue… It is a crime.” 

A division bench of Justice Jamdar and Justice Arif Doctor was hearing a contempt petition filed by advocate Ruju Thakker alleging willful non-compliance by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) with the 2018 court judgement in a PIL on fixing the roads. 

During the hearing, Thakker showed news reports which showed that 836 manhole covers were stolen last year, the most thefts being in D ward. 

Senior advocate Anil Sakhare, counsel for the BMC, raised a grievance that the police are not taking complaints.  

The bench asked the BMC whether it was checking with the scrap dealers who would be buying these stolen manhole covers. “Those buying have to be dealt with seriously. It is a crime. It must start there. Take action against scrap dealers,’’ said Justice Jamdar. 

The BMC counsel submitted minutes of the meeting chaired by the municipal commissioner on June 23. It was decided in the meeting that ward level assistant engineers will file criminal complaints and scrap dealers will be directed not to purchase manhole cover/protective grilles etc. 

The high court has asked the civic body to inform the number of complaints filed by it. Also, the state has been asked to give details of the action  taken on the complaints including filing of FIR. 

Government pleader PP Kakade made a statement that if an FIR is filed then it will be taken to a “logical end”. The court took his statement on record. 

The bench said that the traffic police should be directed to coordinate with the BMC. “It is also open to citizens if they find that protective grilles or cover  of manholes are missing or stolen to set the criminal law in motion,’’ the bench said in its order.

On the last hearing on June 19, the bench observing that one year was “too long” had asked the BMC to come up with a simple temporary mechanism for covering manholes to prevent untoward incidents. The bmc has then said that it will take a year to cover over one lakh manholes with protective grills. 

Sakhare said that a tender will have to be issued for temporary measures. He emphasised that all the manholes in the city have been covered. For the monsoon, the civic body will conduct a survey to identify missing or broken manhole covers and replace them within 12 hours. Till the time the manholes are covered, it will be barricaded; lights will be put up and a staff will stand guard. 

Thakker and advocate Dipesh Siroya informed the bench that there were technical glitches with the MyBMC app and that the citizens faced difficulties in lodging complaints. 

The judges said that citizens should be aware of their rights and come forward when they see a missing lid on a manhole. 

The HC has kept the matter for checking progress on July 24.