The public toilet 1 km away in Nagpada. Pic/Satej Shinde

Ranjana Yogendra Nag knew the risk of leaving her ailing husband all by himself, but she just couldn’t hold it in anymore. The resident of Vashi walked briskly from the premises of JJ Hospital in Nagpada to the nearest public toilet — 1 km away — just to take a leak, leaving her tuberculosis-wracked husband without any help for over 30 minutes. Patients and their attendants have become collateral damage in the tiff between JJ Hospital and Naresh Malji Bhoj, the contractor of a pay-for-use public toilet, on the premises of the facility over pending dues.