Opposition slammed BMC over planning smart cities when slums miss out on toilets
Opposition party corporators in the BMC on Friday slammed the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena over coming out with a smart city project. Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress corporators have alleged that the BMC has not been able to provide toilets to slum dwellers in the city during the BJP-Shiv Sena’s tenure for the past 24 years.
A report by International Institute for Population Science (IIPS) stated that 57.9 per cent of the population from the city have admitted to disposing their children’s faeces in drainage or passageways. It further stated that slum dwellers in Mumbai spend an average of 40 minutes every morning waiting for their turn to use the public toilet.
Ashraf Azmi, SP corporator said, “The ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has done injustice to the sons of soil for whom they claim to be fighting. Quoting a report by IIPM Mr Azmi, said 50 per cent of the population from the slums are sons of the soil and they have done nothing to provide the basic necessity of toilet for them. Before making a smart city they should provide toilets to the slum dwellers from the city.”
Raising the issue of toilets in the House, Devendra Amberkar, Leader of Opposition, said, “There is corruption everywhere in the administration and we are not even given the permission to build new toilets for the people from our ward. We are only allowed to repair the toilets, which also is not maintained by the BMC officials. First they should build toilets and later dream about building smart cities.”
A recent report by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) stated nearly 78 per cent of toilets in slum do not have water connection and 58 per cent of toilets in the city lack electricity. It further stated that 60 per cent of septic tanks are in urgent need of maintenance followed by 80 per cent of untreated sewage is released directly in the sea. However, defending the allegations by the Opposition, Vinod Shelar, member of standing committee, said, “We are accountable for both what we have delivered and also for what we have not delivered, but the fact is the administration of the BMC is not supporting corporators on any issues related to maintenance of toilets. Also, corporators should be given more powers when it comes to constructing toilets.
Also, Sanjay Mukherjee, additional municipal commissioner, BMC, said, “The budget for toilets was increased from Rs 75 crore to Rs 108 crore this year. Out target is to give every person of this city access to toilets by 2019.”
