Visitors to JJ Hospital get a new pay toilet

In a major relief to relatives of patients and visitors at Sir Jamshedjee Jejeebhoy Hospital, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has constructed a new pay-and-use toilet three months after the hospital’s only toilet was shut due to non-maintenance. Several visitors used to openly relieve themselves outside hospital premises and neighbouring areas.

The toilet was shut in January after authorities asked the toilet contractor to clear pending dues of Rs 21 lakh. The contractor had failed to pay the electricity and water bills following which the toilet was locked down.

Some visitors chose to openly relieve themselves outside the hospital premises than take a long walk to the nearest public toilet. A civic official said visitors who couldn’t afford to leave their patients for a longer time used the hospital premises. Interestingly, this highlights the issue of inadequate public toilets in the entire locality of Sandhurst Road (B ward).

Following this, the neighbouring shops and restaurant owners approached the ward officials urging them take strict action against people openly relieving themselves. However, the civic officials took three months to act upon these requests and constructed a toilet just outside JJ Hospital.

Kiran Mahade, a stall owner, said, “The visitors dirtied the lane outside the hospital. We even formed a group of shop owners to chase the offenders away. We had also lodged complaints with the ward officer after the number of offenders increased.”

Udaykumar Shiroorkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner (AMC) of B ward, said, “Instead of penalising visitors, we decided to construct a public toilet which will in turn reduce the number of offenders in the ward.”

The toilet was shut in Jan after authorities asked the toilet contractor to clear dues of Rs 21 lakh