HC asks civic authorities to close open manholes

The Telangana High Court directed the GHMC to file a compliance report mentioning the remedial steps it had taken after a girl child fell into an open manhole and died in Kalasiguda earlier this year. The bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Anil Kumar Jukanti was dealing with a letter addressed to the court that was taken up as a PIL. 

The PIL said the deaths of Mounika and another child, Vivek, were due to the negligence of the GHMC. The petitioner said that the recent heavy rainfall in the city had unleashed a torrent of destruction, leaving in its wake a trail of devastation that left many in despair and the city’s drainage system succumbed under the pressure of the deluge. 

The GHMC was forced to open a canal cover in



Kalasiguda to allow the flood water to pass through. In a frantic rush to deal with the unfolding crisis, the GHMC staff neglected to put up a warning sign and nine-year-old Mounika fell into the open manhole and was swept away by the raging flood waters. Parents and onlookers were helpless. Six-year-old Vivek accidentally fell into a pit in Jubilee Hills while playing and drowned. 

On Tuesday, when GHMC counsel sought an adjournment to file a counter, the bench directed the corporation to take remedial action in response to the incident and said there was no need to file a counter. The bench questioned counsel whether, in their counter, the GHMC intended to deny that the girl had in fact not died.