MUMBAI: Andheri witnessed two incidents of people falling into open drains on Tuesday. Luckily, both survived unhurt.
Around 5.40am, a Jogeshwari resident employed with a TV channel fell into an open manhole while wading through knee-deep water to reach his Andheri (E) office near L&T. "His bag and phone got swept away, but he managed to hold on to the manhole cover," said his colleague.
In the second incident, Tanmaya Nanda left home to buy milk at 9.30am, when fell into an open stormwater drain on Veera Desai Road, which was submerged under knee-deep water.
Nanda told TOI. "I was walking on the footpath...when I noticed a log to indicate an open drain. I avoided it. But a few metres away, there was another open drain, but no warning flag. My leg went right into it. I somehow managed to pull myself out." He tweeted a video of the spot where he fell into the open drain and tagged BMC's official twitter handle @mybmc. His post was retweeted 500 times.
The BMC, in response, tweeted: "It was certainly very unfortunate and we regret your experience Mr Nanda & we are trying our best to minimise inconvenience to the citizens." It also attached a photograph of the covered drain. Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner, said: "The cops will investigate who opened the drain."