BMC MUST FOCUS ON BUILDING TOILETS IN SLUMS

Despite Mumbai being popularly known as ‘The city of dreams’, for scores of Mumbaiites, using a toilet every day appears to be a distant dream (City’s dirty secret out in the open, April 12). Instead of spending dollops of money on Mumbai Metro or providing Wifi connection at public spots, the BMC should make sure all slumps have toilets. Moreover, they must involve the community, not only to highlight the advantages of building a toilet in their house but also to train them to maintain it. Meanwhile, they should monitor the maintenance of sewage pipelines and water supply to make Mumbai a healthier place to live in. either no or poorly-maintained public toilets and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has failed in turning that situation around to make India’s commercial capital free of open defecation, this dirt seems to be a curse we may have to put up with, perhaps for eternity. On the other hand, BMC can only check the menace by constructing more peoplefriendly toilets in every nook and corner of the city and initiate a sustained campaign on the ill-effects of open defecation, but it’s the citizens’ responsibility to use and maintain them. They have rightly dubbed it as an attempt to defame India and a tactic to deflect attention from Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Apart from providing the best legal support to Jadhav, the government needs to take the matter to the International Court of Justice at The Hague in Netherlands, especially since he was denied counsellor access. Pakistan has forgotten that their officials were given permission to visit the Pathankot airbase after the terror attack last year.