The BMC's rush to declare Mumbai Open Defecation Free (ODF) has fallen flat after a team, appointed by the central government to verify the claim, found that open defecation still exists in the city



A representational photograph of open defecation in Mumbai

The BMC's rush to declare Mumbai Open Defecation Free (ODF) has fallen flat after a team, appointed by the central government to verify the civic body's claim, found that open defecation still exists at six wards across the city. The squad conducted the survey over Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to sources, members of the Quality Council of India (QCI) spotted people defecating in the open in six wards — F-North (Sion Matunga), G-North (Dadar, Mahim), H-West (Bandra, Khar Road), K-West (Andheri, Vile Parle), R-South (Kandivli) and T (Mulund) — during the survey. Following the results, a red-faced BMC has applied for a reassessment of those areas to the QCI team.

The sources also said that the officials from Solid Waste Management department and Swachh Bharat Mission team have been asked to remain tight-lipped about the visit of the QCI team. However, mid-day managed to obtain the names of some of the locations that included Mahim Creek, Wadala, Nargis Dutt Nagar in Bandra and Bunder Pakhadi in Kandivli.

The BMC had declared Mumbai Open Defecation Free (ODF) on December 29. On the same day, the civic body had written to the Union Ministry of Urban Development department to inform them about the success. Following which, a team from the central government visited the city to certify the civic body's claim. A source from the BMC, said, "The Central team had chosen spots from a list compiled by the BMC. Now we have requested the centre's team for a reassessment. They are expected to visit the city again."

Last year, the BMC had identified a total of 118 spots as open defecation areas. In the meanwhile, another team appointed by the central government to assess the overall efforts taken by the BMC under the Swachh Bharat Mission, started its survey on Saturday. The team will be in city for two more days, after which it will announce BMC's Swachh Bharat ranking this year.