In a horrific tragedy, a labourer who had opened a manhole in Borivli West to clean it died after falling into it. Reports stated that a manager of a restaurant in the vicinity had called in two people to clean the  drainage chamber of the manhole. It was allegedly done without the BMC’s permission. Once the manhole was opened for cleaning a labourer fell into it. Though he was rescued by the fire brigade and taken to a hospital, he passed away.

This illustrates the very real danger of opening manholes or gutters without authorised personnel, ostensibly for cleaning or for whatever other reason. Even during floods, there are people, just ordinary citizens who believe they will be doing good work if they remove manhole or drain lids allowing the water to drain. This is so dangerous and criminal in fact, as these are basically unskilled people trying to open or tamper with public infrastructure.