Sulabhs hard to locate, unclean on 21-km Harbour line stretch

On the third day of the sustained campaign initiated by DNA in order to check the ground reality on the availability of clean public toilets, a team, on Sunday conducted a check on a 21 km stretch of Harbour line. The check started from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus station at 1 pm en-route till Prabhadevi, and what we found was the stench would lead you to the way of a toilet.

While the majority of toilets wore a deserted look, travellers confessed indulging in open defecation. During the check, only 14 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run sulabhs (public toilets) were found for city's denizens. But, out of these only three were in a usable condition. The state of these toilets was no different from the ones found on Western Express Highway (WEH), on the previous report filed by DNA.

Ayaz Mistry, a taxi driver at CSMT, smirked when asked about Mumbai being adjudged as Open Defecation Free (ODF) in 2018. If Mistry is used to be believed, the sulabhs are mere eyewash. He says, "If you want to get killed you can use the public toilet on Shivaji Road. They are never cleaned."

When DNA began its search to locate at least a few clean sulabhs, the team could manage to find only one at Ambedkar Road in Byculla. Right from CSMT till Byculla, there were no toilets to be found before and after JJ flyover. The famous Mohammed Ali Road going beneath the flyover had only one sulabh which was visible, but not usable. When DNA spoke to locals and commuters who frequent the road, we got a negative response.

For Laxmi Salve, a resident of Cotton Street, finding a clean sulabh is a distant dream. She says, "Forget clean sulabh, it becomes difficult to find one meant for women and is run by a woman. Most of the times, either the toilet of women section would be locked or there would be no woman cleaner to clean it. When we raise a complaint, the man deputed would ask you to budge."

From the starting point at CSMT for approximately one and a half to two kilometres, there are no sulabhs. It is only after reaching Byculla and covering a distance of around 1.4 kilometres, one could find three sulabhs and two urinals at a distance of one kilometre, in a row. However, only one was available at Cotton Street road and that too, locked.

After covering about eight kilometres, the DNA correspondent found three toilets for men including one for women after Shivaji Road, and just before Kakadwadi. But, to the disappointment, the toilets were ravaged and dirty. The accessibility to these toilets was a similar factor found on Harbour line alike WEH.

Many small urinals appeared shied away due to mounds of garbage dumped in front of them. While many were with illegal parking hence blocking their entry, locals complained that a few remains locked.

DNA also found a few sulabhs had no information or board on them. For a commuter, it was difficult to identify a sulabh. Locals also pointed us towards another urinal which had a misleading board of 'Surikshit Berozgar Sanstha, allegedly on a sulabh building.

The check which concluded at 3 pm came as an unpleasant surprise as DNA was unable to spot a single sulabh till Prabhadevi from Wadala Junction. The check covered areas like CSMT, Byculla, Cotton Street, Ambedkar Road, Shivaji Road and Wadala.

NO NATURE’S CALL

• A total of 14 sulabhs and three urinals were  found on a stretch of about 19 kilometres from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus till Prabhadevi
   
• Out of 14, only five were found in usable condition while two were found locked
   
• Incorrect and often missing sign boards for sulabhs are another source of dissatisfaction
   
• The check started at 1 pm and concluded at around 3 pm