The BMC has finally flung into action by stopping those slum dwellers who use the Maharashtra Nature Park Society (MNPS) footpath as an open toilet from dirtying it any more.
According to an October 2010 ADC report, the park, located at the Sion-Bandra Link Road has been facing this problem since the last seven years or so. Despite having a toilet in the vicinity, locals would defecate outside the park on the footpath to save money and in the process caused environmental hazards and raised other health concerns.
The BMC’s clean-up marshals would not turn up for days at a time which further aggravated the problem. Despite the availability of toilets near the slums, the dwellers instead defecate during early morning hours. There is also no proper sewage line in the vicinity and there is no connectivity for the removal of the night soil.
The BMC’s G north ward office, after receiving numerous complains, now post several guards who keep a regular check on such unhygienic activities during the early-morning hours. “We have also started charging those who dirty the footpath by not utilising toilets,” said G north ward officials.
The residents, along with park officials, had earlier filed complaints with the BMC protesting against the unsanitary nature of garbage accumulation outside the park near the Dharavi bus stop which lied unattended till early morning and would get scattered all across the place emanating stench. Following it, the BMC, unlike before, has been regularly deploying mini-trucks for garbage collection, which is usually being carried out in the evening.