Chinese authorities have come up with various strategies to stop the massive theft of manhole covers in cities following the death of people, including several toddlers, who have died after falling down the open manholes.

Reports said tens of thousands of manhole covers are stolen from city streets each year to be sold for scrap metal. Beijing authorities have estimated that around 240,000 were stolen in 2014.

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Officials have tried employing different tactics in preventing the manhole cover theft, from covering the metal plates with nets to chaining them to street lights, but these have not worked at all.

China is home to a massive scrap metal business that fuels its demand for vital industrial metals such as the manhole covers that are easily converted into cash.

Reports said the eastern city of Hangzhou has embarked on a new way of preventing the theft by planting a GPS chip inside the covers.

As a start, Chinese authorities have started putting 100 'smart manhole covers' in the city streets.

Tao Xiamin, an official in the  Hangzhou urban planning and management office, said that when the cover is moved and the tilt angle reaches 15 degrees, the chip will send an alarm to their office and a 'digital positioning system' will allow them to track down the cover immediately.

China's latest move to use GPS-tracking device only showed the seriousness of the problem and its inability to stop people from stealing the big metal plates.

The manhole cover thefts are not only a problem in China. Reports said manhole theft is very common in  fast growing and developing countries like India where  the construction industry demand for scrap metal is very high.

China reportedly is so hungry for metal that the demand has spawned a multi-billion industry that spans across the globe.

TagsGPS, manhole covers, metal industry