Mumbai: Car wheel sinks into open stormwater drain on road near Borivli metro station

Car owner Subhajit Mukherjee

Kandivli resident Subhajit Mukherjee got that sinking feeling, quite literally, late Sunday, April 10 evening. Mukherjee is founder of the initiative Mission Green Mumbai whose aim as the self-explanatory label says is to increase green cover in the city. Mukherjee was leaving for a Sunday evening meeting at the Aarey Colony in Goregaon. "We, from Mission Green Mumbai, do substantial plantation work at the Goregaon site, and I commute often from my home to Goregaon. That day I had received a call about some fire in the forest and I decided I needed to go and see what was going on."

Mukherjee set off by car to the Metro station. He said, "I undertake this commute often because of my work. On Sunday evening, I went to Pahadi Eksar station in Borivli and was parking my car at a designated parking spot, it was around 7 pm. I was to take the Metro to Aarey. As I was parking, I felt a sudden lurch, heard a sound, and felt the car sink slightly. I stopped, exited cautiously and to my shock, the front wheel of my car had got stuck in a big open manhole, very close to the parking lot. This yawning cavity is not immediately visible because of the headlights and no warning signage or indicators."

The car wheel sank into the open manhole

A small crowd of onlookers had gathered as is the pattern in Mumbai, "but the car was on the side anyway, only the wheel was now stuck. I was worried but decided to go ahead with my Metro commute to my meeting spot," Mukherjee said. When Mukherjee returned to his car at 9.30 pm, the car had a Mission Green Mumbai emblazoned on it with the slogan ‘each one, plant one' encouraging citizenry to plant trees, there was the looming question of what to do with his car.

"Once again there were some onlookers, with some curious as to what we do next, others were simply loitering around and for many, it was a capture this on your mobile phone moment," laughed Mukherjee. The green warrior from Charkop added, "I did get some good advice too."

Mukherjee had to call a towing van and get his car extricated. "I spent Rs 1,800 and my car has got a few scratches. More than the damage, or the amount spent on this, I was wondering why this open crater is allowed on this road. First, I thought it was a manhole, then I learnt it was a stormwater drain. If it has to be kept open for whatever reason, I do not exactly know what for, there must be lights, a red flag or some barricade warning persons of this danger. Today, it was my car wheel, but a person can fall into this crater too."

Mukherjee tweeted about the open stormwater drain, with his tweet reading: "bad road at Pahadi Eksar Metro Station on Link Road. My car rent into an open manhole." That tweet has been reproduced verbatim but we presume it should be ‘my car went into an open manhole'. A photograph illustrating the predicament was attached with the tweet. On Monday, Mukherjee claimed there had been no response as yet to his tweet, "I do not know who exactly is responsible but I have tagged a number of authorities," he said. He signed off, "I hope this is attended to before a bigger disaster happens."

April 10
Day on which Mukherjee's car got stuck in a manhole