A fortnight after Dr Deepak Amrapurkar, a gastroenterologist of the Bombay Hospital and Research Centre, died during the floods, the Mumbai Police has arrested four youths who had opened the manhole in which the doctor had fallen. The incident sparked outrage and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to face widespread anger from the citizens, eminent personalities as well as the medical community. However, the BMC conducted an inquiry and said that none of its staff had opened the manhole and that whenever they did, the civic men put up a red flag or a signal as a warning to people not to go near the drain. Police investigating the case studied CCTV footage in the area and said that local residents had opened the manhole, and arrested the four men. There was waist-deep water over there then. Doctors’s umbrella was found when the water levels reduced and his body was found after few days. The issue of open manholes and the death of the doctor were also mentioned before the Bombay High Court even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had ordered a probe. According to police, the four suspects, who are residents of Parel and it made big news. The deluge death has caused a big stir and it is now stated that the step was taken to help distraught locals, which include pregnant woman as well. Manhole mayhem continues to haunt during monsoon rains in Mumbai.
R.S. Gopalan
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
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