To make the city open defecation-free, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will hold a special public awareness drive on April 19.
To make the city open defecation-free, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will hold a special public awareness drive on April 19. The drive will be carried out by civic employees with the help of non-government organisations (NGOs), self help groups and social workers.
For the drive, the BMC has formed several groups of civic employees, who will visit places in the city used for open defecation on April 19 during 4 am to 8 pm and sensitise people about the hazards of the unhealthy act.
“Making the city open defecation-free will be big priority for the BMC under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. We have been working the last fortnight to make the drive successful. The groups of civic employees will visit every open defecation spot in the city and prevent people from doing it,” said a senior civic official.
There are 117 open-air defecation spots still existing all over the city. With the city short of toilets, thousands of people use these spots to defecate in the open, posing a severe threat to hygiene.
According to civic data, so far only two wards — B (Pydhonie and Mohammed Ali Road) and C (Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar) — have been declared as being free from open-air defecation.
The people will be told about the hazards of open defecation and how to prevent it. They will also be made aware about the ill effects of human faeces. After the drive, a cleanliness messenger will be appointed for every open defecation spot, who will be assigned to make the spot clean within four to six months, said the official.
