Nearly 20% of slum dwellers in Mumbai have no access to toilets.

Struggling to contain open defecation and the pressure to show results under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan only rising by the day, the municipal corporation has begun shaming the offenders by punishing them in public.

While Mumbai's stinking open air toilets are a serious health hazard and desperate measures are in order, sanitation experts believe public humiliation may not be the solution as it is the lack of public toilets that forces people to relieve themselves by the railway tracks and on roads.

In the past two weeks, 35 people were caught in action by vigilance squads and were punished on the spot by being made to sit ups. During the same period, vigilance squads also caught 16 people spitting and made them clean their own squirt.

For the first time, the BMC squads have also begun to cover railway tracks under the drive.

Since railway tracks do not fall under BMC's jurisdiction and the railways lack the manpower to conduct such a drive, Mumbai's railway lines for years have been doubling up as toilets for those who do not have access to sanitation facilities.

According to BMC officials, shaming as a punishment was introduced after a fine of Rs 300 for open defecation did not prove to be a deterrent. “We are not only making the offenders do sit ups, they are also made the clean the area they have dirtied,“ he said.

Sanitation experts believe that the BMC is also a part of the problem. According to an Observer Research Foundation report compiled last year, nearly 20% of slum dwellers in Mumbai have no access to toilets.

According to the Slum Sanitation Programme's own records, there are 79,542 toilet seats in the city catering to around 24 lakh people living in slums. However, these toilet blocks serve only 37 per cent of the total slum population of 64.7 lakh (as per 2001census).

A BMC survey carried out in November last year had revealed 117 open air defecation spots between Colaba and Dahisar. According to the survey, most of these `open air community toilets' were located in plots owned by other government departments and agencies. The BMC now plans to `mitigate' these open air defecation spots by building toilets around them.

Jyoti Phule, a resident of Kandivali (west), welcomed the municipal corporation's decision to shame those dirtying the city. “It's good that the BMC is taking these things seriously. I take a train to office every morning. I see a lot of people washing their clothes or defecating on the tracks. It is disgusting. These things must be stopped as people's health is at stake,“ she said.

The municipal corporation wants to build 1.15 lakh toilets by December 2016. So far, only two wards ­ B (Pydhonie and Mohammed Ali Road) and C (Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar) ­ have been made free of open defecation.

Assistant Municipal Commissioner, RSouth ward, Sahebrao Gaikwad said a majority of those caught under the drive told officials that over-crowded public toilets forced them to relieve themselves in the open. “The concept worked since many people could not afford to pay fines. Even residents have appreciated the new method,“ he said. According to the Swachh Bharat Mission guidelines, there should a toilet seat for every 30 users. Based on this calculation, the city needs around 1.36 lakh toilet seats to cater to the 63 per cent of Mumbai's population that lives in slums.

The BMC now plans to rope in local legislators and members of Parliament to fund construction of toilets. “The BMC's new campaign has worked. Open defecation is a serious issue.The BMC must intensify its campaign,“ said Congress corporator Geeta Yadav.

