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Mumbai: The US consulate warned its citizens to beware of open manholes in Mumbai during monsoon season, rankling city officials who objected on Tuesday to being singled out for spotty safety standards.
Mumbai is India's financial and entertainment capital, but it is also a heart-stopping, crowded city with crumbling infrastructure and a tendency to flood during the annual monsoon rains. During particularly heavy rains in 2005, more than 400 people died in floods, house collapses and landslides.
It was with these conditions in mind that the US consulate posted a warning Monday urging travellers to "pay attention when walking, since sidewalks are non-existent in some areas or used for other purposes in most parts of the city. It's possible that you could inadvertently step into an open manhole." A senior Mumbai official took umbrage at the American warning.
Incidents 'rare'
"Even an economically advanced country can suffer. Mumbai is not the only one with flooding problems," Mumbai municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak said yesterday. "Only ten people have died after falling into manholes in seven years. So in a population of 12 million, the incidents are rare."
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