Salman begins work as brand ambassador for open defecation campaign

Mumbai: Salman Khan, who has agreed to become a brand ambassador for the civic body's drive against open defecation, yesterday visited a slum in Aarey Colony here and took a stock of the situation. A senior official of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai said Salman visited the slum colony in unit no 7, Madras Pada.

Open defecation is prevalent in the area as toilets are not clean and their number is not adequate, the official said.

Last Sunday, Salman had met the municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta and expressed his desire to become a brand ambassador for Open Defecation Free (ODF) drive in addition to donating five modern toilets.

"Local people complained to Khan that Aarey Colony authorities do not allow repair of toilets. Salman promised that his 'Being Human Foundation' will repair all the existing toilets at its own cost and also provide mobile toilets if required, provided MCGM gave the foundation an NOC from Aarey authority," said the official.

Meanwhile, MCGM has said that it succeeded in curbing significantly the number of spots in the city where open defecation was prevalent.

"In our 24 administrative wards, there were 118 open defecation spots as of October 2014. 98 spots have been freed of this menace by constructing toilets. This is 83 per cent reduction. Rest 20 spots would be made free of open defecation very soon with our efforts and people's active cooperation," said Kiran Dighavkar, the civic official designated to look after the drive.