Meet the woman who stood near open manhole for 8 hours to prevent accidents [Video]

Indian roads vanish under the rainfall every year and it becomes the cause of many accidents. On August 4, Mumbai saw excessive rains and shortly after, the roads got submerged under the water. A 55-year old lady saw an open manhole and stood there for nearly 8 hours to divert traffic and make sure that no accident occurs at the spot.

Kanta Maruti Kalan, who is a flower seller was spotted standing near the manhole and directing all the motorists to stay clear of the spot. The video became viral on the Internet and soon netizens started donating to the poor lady.

Also read: 26-year old mother travels 1800 km from Pune to meet her sick son

The 55-year old Kanta Maruti Kalan is the sole bread-earner of the family. She has three children and says that five more kids have been married. She also says that her husband is suffering from paralysis and is handicapped after an accident with a train and lives separately.

Kanta says that since the roads disappeared under the water, her house was flooded too. However, to ensure that the flood water recedes quicker, she opened a manhole and stood beside it to warn the motorists. It should be noted that manhole cover can also dislodge by its own after getting submerged in water. BMC officials reach the spot after a few hours and scolded her for the act. However, they did not take any action against her.

She opened the manhole cover with a thick cloth. A passing biker helped her to open the cover. She says she did not leave because the memory of 2017 tragedy, when the manhole cover was removed to drain out the water and Dr Deepak Amarapurkar drowned in it. His body was found after two days near the sea in Worli. The lid was removed at 6 AM and Kanta stood there in the rain and flooded road till 1 PM. She says that cops came to appreciate her and even the passerby saluted her but the BMC officials scolded her for removing the manhole cover.

Kanta waited for BMC officials to arrive on the spot and help with removing the water but she said that no one arrived until the next day. Even local residents agree that the road could have remained flooded for a long time if Kanta did not remove that manhole cover.

Flooded streets during the rainy season are very common in India. Even the biggest and the most developed cities suffer from flooded streets. It is always a good idea to remain indoor during such situations and not take the vehicle to deep water. Due to the flooding, the road surface becomes invisible and the motorists do not get to know about the potholes underneath and get involved in accidents.

Also read: Royal Enfield home service is now operational