The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will explore the possibility of making manholes smart to prevent the theft of their covers and their contents from overflowing. A BMC official stated that though the technology officials have in mind is not available in the market, the concept is being explored.

The official, from the sewerage project department, said, “This is just a concept. We have had complaints of theft of manhole covers. During water-logging, we would see that manhole covers would go missing. A smart manhole will have a wireless indicator. When the sewage level crosses a certain limit, it will send an alert to the control room. Also if anybody attempts to lift the cover of a manhole, an alarm will start sounding on the spot as well as in the control room, which is at Babula tank near Byculla.”