Antop hill slum dwellers forced to defecate in the open as toilet shuts down

The toilet facility that will be demolishedHundreds of slum dwellers in Antop Hill have been forced to defecate in the open as the only public toilet in the area has been shut for demolition According to sources the BMC had declared the toilet dangerous for use around 6 months ago following which slum dwellers had approached the local MLA but to no avail While another public toilet is available in the area residents say it is a huge inconvenience especially for women children and the elderly as there is a serpentine queue at the facilityAlso Read Open Defecation In Maharashtra To Invite Rs 500 Fine NowThe issuesAn NGO Khwaja Hindalwali Welfare Association has alleged that the local mafia is responsible for the shutdown of the public toilet which 34 sanitation units Speaking to midday NGO chief Anwar Shaikh 70 who has been residing in the slum since the last 50 years said The local mafia is helping some big builders vacate slums in the area by resorting to such illegal measures Yogesh Vichare Sainath CoOperative Societys chief promoter who also happens to oversee the maintenance of these public toilets is forcing locals to leave the locality Around 1800 people live in these slums and around 50 people have already vacated their homes Not surprisingly the builders wasted no time in demolishing those housesThe queue outside the nearest toilet blockAkbar Patel 45 a software engineer whos attached to the NGO as an advisor said the public toilet was built around 12 years ago under the SPARK Sustainable Progress through Application of Research and Knowledge scheme of the government The firm that built the toilet formed a society with some locals who would oversee the maintenance of the amenity It was decided that people would be charged R5 to use the ground plus one facility Recently without any notice the society members shut the toilet forcing hundreds of slum dwellers to defecate in the open or brave the serpentine queue at the nearest facilityEmbroidery material strewn about the facilityrsquos top floor that was allegedly rented out by the maintenance inchargePatel added that the authorities made no alternative provisions before sealing the toilet Do they expect us to stand in the queue at the nearest toilet facility throughout the day Why wasnt an alternative offered to usAccording to Shaikh the first floor of the public toilet was shut for use around 5 years ago Vichare gave the toilet on the top floor on rent to some embroidery artists for R10000 per month We had approached the cops but even after making us wait for over four hours they didnt file a complaint Cops assured us that they will take action against the culprits within four days but nothing has happened on that front till now Complaints to the local MLA didnt help Now we plan to approach the chief ministers officeFinancial woesMeanwhile speaking to midday Vichare said An engineer from the F north ward had declared that public toilet dangerous for use 6 months ago We had approached the local corporator for financial aid but we returned empty handed So we had no option but to close the toilet We plan to build another smaller facility in the area However the problem is that half the people who use this facility dont bother to pay We repaired the toilet block 18 months ago but within a few months we found it damaged Vichare has denied renting out the toilet on the first floor No part of the facility was given on rent to any party The caretaker who was doing a parttime job at the facility was into embroideryDespite several attempts local Congress corporator Sufiyan Vanu remained unavailable for commentCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go