The Maharashtra government on Thursday swung into action after a 55-year-old man died after falling into an open manhole in Mumbai, ordering a high-level inquiry, suspending four civic officials and directing an inspection of all manholes in the city to be completed within eight days.

After the incident triggered an uproar, minister of state for urban development Madhuri Misal told the Assembly that preliminary findings had revealed serious safety lapses at the civic work site.

Four civic officials were suspended in connection with the incident, while a committee headed by the additional municipal commissioner (western suburbs) was constituted to investigate the fatality and submit its report within seven days.

Misal said 55-year-old Aslam Ishaq Shaikh fell into an open sewer manhole in the Chandivali area earlier on Thursday and his body was later recovered from another manhole around 100 feet away with the assistance of the fire brigade.

According to the preliminary findings, CCTV footage showed workers had opened the manhole to install a protective grill, but the site lacked the mandatory barricading and tripod before work commenced.

Although workers were present, apparently to warn pedestrians, Shaikh, who was walking while talking on his mobile phone, failed to notice the open manhole because of the missing barricades and fell inside.

The work should have been completed before the onset of the monsoon but was instead carried out after the rains began and without adequate precautions to safeguard the public, Misal said, adding that repeated instructions had been issued during review meetings to ensure strict adherence to safety norms during civic works.

The suspended officials were assistant municipal commissioner Dhanaji Herlekar, assistant Sub-engineer Deepak Chaugule, junior engineer Abhijit Chaugule and assistant engineer Uttam Patil, all from the L ward.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has also filed a police complaint against those responsible for the negligence.

Directions have further been issued to all additional municipal commissioners, seven zonal deputy commissioners and 26 ward-level assistant commissioners to inspect every manhole in Mumbai over the next eight days and submit reports certifying their safety.

Misal also informed the House that the BMC maintains both stormwater drain and sewer manholes, with stormwater manholes being mostly circular and sewer manholes generally rectangular.

Earlier, BJP MLA Ameet Satam raised the issue in the Assembly and demanded immediate criminal action against those responsible for the death.

Satam said the incident occurred on Khairani Road during drainage work being carried out by the BMC. This is the second rain-related death in the city this week. An 11-year-old boy was killed, and four other children were injured after an old roadside peepal tree fell on their school bus in Chembur in eastern Mumbai.

Identifying the deceased as a resident of Yadav Nagar in Sakinaka, he demanded that an FIR be registered immediately and the BMC official supervising the work be suspended. Suspension alone would not suffice, he argued, and sought the registration of a case of culpable homicide against officials allegedly responsible for the lapse.

Referring to similar incidents in Mumbai, the BJP legislator said open drains and excavated pits left unattended during the monsoon continued to pose a serious threat to public safety and urged the government to take immediate action instead of merely ordering an inquiry.

Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said it amounted to "culpable homicide", and directed the government to place a detailed statement before the House later in the day.

Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, culpable homicide refers to causing a person's death through an act committed with the intention of causing death or with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death. The offence is punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment of up to 10 years, along with a fine.