Open Manhole Deaths, Illegal Basement Deaths, Illegal Billboard Deaths, And Illegal Building Deaths: An Ironic Tale Of Government Negligence Eroding The ‘Steel Frame Of India!

Manhole accidents/deaths, illegal basements deaths, illegal billboard deaths, illegal building deaths: How sheer negligence of government authorities are taking the lives of the common man and rusting the ‘Steel Frame of India’? 

• August 5, 2024, reports that a four-year-old boy died after falling into a manhole in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district.
• August 3, 2024, reports a seven-year-old boy fell into a manhole outside South Delhi Public School, which had been covered with a cardboard sheet, thankfully rescued by bystanders and his parents.
• July 10, 2024, reports that a 13-month-old child of a worker died after falling into a manhole cover in Hisar, Haryana.
• April 25, 2024, reports two dead, one critical after falling into Malad East manhole.
• April 5, 2024, reports a two-year-old toddler died after falling into a manhole in Gurgaon.

These are not just a handful of incidents. In recent years, India has witnessed a troubling increase in accidents and fatalities caused by open manholes, highlighting a severe lapse in infrastructure safety and the negligence of civic authorities. These incidents, often resulting in tragic deaths and injuries, underscore the urgent need for systemic reforms and heightened accountability within urban management.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals a sobering reality: in India, one person dies every 12 hours from falls into open pits or manholes, with a staggering 5393 such deaths recorded since 2015. In 2022, there were 287 such fatalities in Delhi alone. These troubling results underline the critical need for increased safety precautions. The NCRB recorded them as ‘accidental deaths’ caused when a person accidentally falls.

However, lawyers and urban experts called these incidents’ absolutely preventable deaths’, mentioning the concept of ‘absolute liability’, arguing that maintaining manholes, sewers, and roads is a statutory duty of state authorities, which is why we pay taxes and have governments and bureaucracies. So, when someone dies as a result of an open manhole or is electrocuted by an unmanaged live wire, the authorities should be held accountable. “All of these fatalities are avoidable.” There is always an ‘unelected Raja’ in every territory with their ‘Mantris’ who should be held accountable for deaths caused by their negligence or their dereliction of duty.

In the majority of the cases, it is the sheer negligence of civic authorities that led to such incidents. Even after someone loses their life, the different departments of civic authorities try to shift the blame over each other. On July 11, 2024, when a 13-month-old child fell into a manhole in Hisar, Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the civic body to pay INR 15 lakh as compensation. The negligent and unaccountable civic body challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, saying that it was in the Indian Railways area and, hence, they should pay the compensation. 

Upon reaching the apex court of the nation, the bench led by CJI scolded the civic body, saying that the poor family that lost their child should not be made to run from here and there for the loss of their deceased child. Moreover, it asked that the High Court will take into account that if it is found that Indian Railways accounted for the accident, it will reimburse the compensation amount to the civic body. This is the state of accountability that the civic bodies or the Indian Railways, whosoever is held responsible for the tragedy, who are paid great by the government, reacts when such a tragedy occurs and someone loses their life.

A similar scenario was observed when the huge hoarding fell in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation issued a statement saying that the billboard, which collapsed, killing more than a dozen people, was constructed without their permission. Their statement mentioned that the land belong to railways, and hence, they should be held accountable for the falling of the billboard. In the end, the owner of the billboard was arrested, saying that it was his fault that he put up such a huge billboard. Is it really his fault, or is the real culprit is the authority in charge who was placed in the position to see any case of illegality in the region? 

Moreover, it was reported that IPS officer Quaiser Khalid was also suspended with immediate effect for sanctioning the hoarding without the approval of the DGP office, due to which 17 people died and 74 were left injured in the incident that happened on May 13 amid strong winds and heavy rains in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area. 

In the majority of such cases, either no action is taken, or a mere suspension of the officer takes place, who will rejoin the service after a certain time period. Is mere suspension of any officer who was incapable of performing their duties enough to reverse the death of those who came under the billboard? There should be even strict regulations for such negligences.

Although in the majority of cases, it is the failure of the government bodies, in a few cases, it is the negligence and wrong acts of the citizens as well that can pave the way to such disasters. In a case reported on September 2023, a 4-year-old boy fell into a manhole, whose lid was deliberately opened by two residents to allow passage to rainwater, which proved fatal for the boy. In such cases, residents should desist from opening manhole covers to drain out rainwater. It is best to alert the civic authorities and wait for them to act instead of inadvertently laying death traps for their neighbours.

However, as mentioned earlier, in the majority of cases, it is the responsibility of the government bodies, and they should be held accountable for such accidents. Moreover, this blame game not only detracts from the urgent need for accountability but also underscores a systemic failure in managing public infrastructure. In Hisar, as in many other cities, the lack of proper maintenance and safety measures for critical infrastructure like manholes is a chronic issue. Open manholes, often left without secure covers or warning signs, represent a significant hazard, particularly in densely populated or impoverished areas where families might be more vulnerable.

There is a pressing need for greater transparency and communication between different levels of government and the public. Instead of blame-shifting, authorities must focus on resolving the root causes of these issues and preventing future tragedies. Implementing stringent safety protocols and holding those responsible accountable for safety lapses is crucial.

Open manholes and illegal billboards are not the only cases. Such cases of sheer negligence can be seen in the case of Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi, where 3 UPSC aspirants died due to illegal basement usage as a library. After such a deadly incident took place, the authorities woke up and found that more such coaching institutes were running libraries illegally from the basements.

That means, till any disaster doesn’t happen, our civic authorities are just taking their decent salaries and enjoying their lives, leaving the city at its stake. The falling of a 6-storey building in Surat, Gujarat, that was illegally constructed shows how such illegal and negligent activities took place in the nation and how the civic bodies and the state bureaucracy failed to address their duties, rusting the ‘Steel Frame of India’.