Why stand in line for filthy loos: Defecators

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made public toilets available in a large number of places where people defecate in the open, but there are Mumbaikars who still choose to relieve themselves in open spaces.

When The Asian Age did a ground report to see if Mumbai really has gone open defecation free (ODF), it was found that people defecate on tracks, under bridges and other places, but not in the public toilets that have been made available every 500 metres. According to the defecators, if they have to relieve themselves in an unhygienic place, why should they have to line up in queues when they can just defecate in the open?

Kamlesh Batra, a resident of Bandra who is a retired engineer in Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “When I used to go office daily until last month, I found a lot of men sitting near the pipeline in Bandra, defecating in the open. It comes as a surprise to me that Mumbai has been given the status of an ODF city.”

Nitin Tare, a resident of Mahim Koliwada, said, “We do not have a drainage line going through our homes, which compels us to defecate in the open. The condition of the toilets constructed by the BMC is so bad that people don’t use them, fearing various infections that one might get in such unhygienic places. To top it all, it so happens that there is no water supply in the toilets and they are dimly lit, which puts our lives at risk too.”

Mahim-Koliwada residents also complained about people defecating in the open at the Mahim junction circle near the railway tracks. A local, Manjiri Joshi, said, “People have been seen defecating in the open for decades now, and it is very difficult for them to change their ways.”

Cost of defecation

The BMC has decided to impose a fine of Rs 100 on those who are caught defecating within 500 metres of public toilets. The decision was taken in a meeting headed by civic chief Ajoy Mehta recently.