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#REDIRECT [[Manhole cover#Theft]]
[[File:BroadmoorManholeConesJune2008.jpg|thumb|A manhole with no cover in New Orleans]]


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'''Manhole cover theft''' is the phenomenon of [[manhole cover]]s being stolen, usually for resale as [[scrap]]. Long considered to be a childish prank or simple vandalism, this type of theft is often expensive to municipalities, and dangerous to their residents.<ref>{{cite news|title=Woman falls down sewer after thieves steal drain cover|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8893985/Woman-falls-down-sewer-after-thieves-steal-drain-cover.html|accessdate=2 April 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=16 Nov 2011}}</ref> In recent years, the theft of manhole covers for financial reasons (i.e., to sell them when scrap metal prices are high) has also become more common.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ryan|first=Susan|title=Manhole covers and memorial plaques: what's being stolen in the recession?|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/manhole-covers-and-memorial-plaques-whats-being-stolen-in-the-recession-479064-Jun2012/|accessdate=2 April 2014|newspaper=TheJournal.ie|date=2012-06-10}}</ref>
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==History==
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=== India and China ===
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Manhole cover theft has become a serious problem in [[India]] and [[China]], where missing manhole covers caused at least eight deaths in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3440451.stm|title=China manhole thefts prove deadly|date=2004-01-29|work=[[BBC Online]]}}</ref>

In the city of [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[India]] more than 10,000 manhole covers were taken in two months. These were replaced with concrete covers, but these were also stolen, this time for the [[rebar]] inside them.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040907/asp/calcutta/story_3724114.asp|title=10,000 manhole covers vanish - Fingers pointed at Growing craze for Drugs, SNAP lottery|date= September 7, 2004|work=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)]]}}</ref>

According to China's [[Xinhua News Agency]], about "240,000 manhole and street-drain covers were stolen in [[Beijing]] in 2004."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/15/news/funny/manholes.reut/|title=Putting a lid on rampant manhole theft|date=Mar 15, 2005|work=[[CNN]]|location=Beijing|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050320084501/http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/15/news/funny/manholes.reut/|archivedate=2005-03-20}}</ref>

===Elsewhere===
In ''China Shakes the World'', [[James Kynge]] describes the phenomenon:
<blockquote>
...in the several weeks beginning in mid-February 2004, when, slowly at first but with mounting velocity, manhole covers started to disappear from roads and pavements around the world. As Chinese demand drove up the price of scrap metal to record levels, thieves almost everywhere had the same idea. As darkness fell, they levered up the iron covers and sold them to local merchants, who cut them up and loaded them onto ships to China. The first displacements were felt in [[Taiwan]], the island just off China's southeast coast. The next were in other neighbors such as [[Mongolia]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]]... Wherever the sun set, pilferers worked to satisfy China's hunger. More than 150 covers disappeared during one month in [[Chicago]]. [[Scotland]]'s "great drain robbery" saw more than a hundred vanish in a few days. From [[Montreal]] to [[Gloucester]] to [[Kuala Lumpur]], unsuspecting pedestrians stumbled into holes.
</blockquote>

In [[London Borough of Newham|Newham]], [[East End of London|East London]], nearly 200 grates and covers were stolen in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1335156,00.html|title=Manhole covers vanish in the night|first=Hugh|last=Muir|publisher=guardian.co.uk|date=25 October 2004|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> A manhole cover designed by artist [[Antony Gormley]] was stolen in 2013, ten years after its installation.<ref>http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2013/12/04/gormless-someone-has-stolen-the-anthony-gormley-manhole-cover/</ref>

In March and April 2012, [[Ajax, Ontario]] and [[Niagara Falls, Ontario]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2012/04/24/stolen-manhole-covers-put-lives-at-risk|title=Stolen manhole covers put 'lives at risk'|author=Tony Ricciuto|work=niagarafallsreview.ca}}</ref> had dozens of manhole covers stolen.

==See also==
* [[Metal theft]]
* [[Street sign theft]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.kypost.com/2004/12/25/scrap122504.html|title=Manhole covers disappearing: Thefts may be tied to high resell|first=Shelly|last=Whitehead|work=[[The Cincinnati Post|The Kentucky Post]]|publisher=[[E. W. Scripps Company]]|date=2004-12-25|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060511091241/http://www.kypost.com/2004/12/25/scrap122504.html|archivedate=2006-05-11}}
*[http://joburgnews.co.za/2005/feb/feb1_manhole.stm New manhole covers to beat the vandals] (City of Johannesburg)
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2010}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manhole Cover Theft}}
[[Category:Theft]]
[[Category:Subterranea (geography)]]

[[ru:Кража крышек канализационных люков]]

Latest revision as of 10:10, 14 January 2023

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