Mumbai: In Aarey Milk Colony, family calls public toilet ‘home’

A visit to one of the two public toilet blocks that were inaugurated by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in 2017 in Aarey Milk Colony revealed that the facilityrsquos condition has deteriorated severely One portion of the public lavatory located at Unit 30 near Film Cityrsquos back gate has been encroached upon by a family who claims it was appointed to look after the toilet blockWhen midday visited the site a woman named Lalita Rane was seen washing clothes while her aunt Janki was sleeping in the womenrsquos section of the toilet block which had been converted into living quarters and a storage spaceThe sixtoilet facility at Unit 30 in Aarey Milk Colony Goregaon on TuesdayLalita told midday ldquoI was born here Aarey Milk Colony and even my motherinlaw Kamaldevi Rane who was previously handling the toiletrsquos maintenance was born and brought up in this area She passed away two years ago The BMC first constructed this toilet years ago demolished it and then rebuilt it Salman Khan also attended the inauguration For years now the BMC has not maintained itThere is no water connection and no funds have been provided to keep it running Drug addicts are often seen in the area posing a threat to our lives We dug a small well nearby which we use for bathing and washing utensils If the BMC provides water and funds for maintenance this toilet can serve the public againrdquoHer aunt added ldquoWe use this part of the toilet for sleeping and storage There is no electricity or water connection The womens section is unsafe mdash all the doors are broken so we had to permanently close it We request the BMC and Salman Khan to look into this matter and help usrdquoSituation on the groundThe section of the toilet block that was not encroached was in an appalling state lacking basic hygiene water supply and even doors The premises were littered with gutkha packets alcohol bottles and cigarette butts Additionally the commemorative stone plaque listing details of the inauguration and those involved was missingThe sixtoilet facility at Unit 30 in Aarey Milk Colony Goregaon East PICSSAYYED SAMEER ABEDIShiv Sena UBT Shakha Pramukh Sandeep Gadhave from Aarey Milk Colony said ldquoSalman Khan had inaugurated two sixtoilet public lavatories mdash one at Madraspada and another at Unit 30 Unfortunately the latter one has deteriorated drastically due to the authoritiesrsquo neglect One side has been encroached upon by a family and turned into a home The other half is unusable due to a lack of water doors and maintenance compelling people to relieve themselves in the open The Aarey CEO and BMC must repair the toilet on an urgent basisrdquoA resident said ldquoAt night the area near the Film City gate is frequented by drug addicts and antisocial elements No one wants to go there A family has taken over a part of the toilet Why donrsquot the BMC Aarey CEO and police take actionrdquoVinod Eknath Kamble a local said ldquoWersquore forced to urinate on the road or in the forest due to the lack of toilet facilities Drug addicts roam around at night Its risky for our families but we have no option We are helpless and forced to use toilets located far away from our homesrdquoOfficial speaksDeputy Municipal Commissioner Kiran Dighavkar said ldquoAarey Milk Colony falls under Sanjay Gandhi National Parkrsquos EcoSensitive Zone ESZ and is administered by the Aarey CEO In order to carry out repairs or maintenance permissions from the CEOrsquos office and the ESZ monitoring committee are needed When we developed the toilet block for public use in 2017 we took permission from the CEO of Aarey Milk Colony We will repair and maintain the public toilet after obtaining the CEOrsquos approvalrdquoLalita Rane in green saree and her aunt Janki who reside in the womenrsquos section of the sixtoilet public lavatory at Unit 30 in Aarey Milk ColonyMeanwhile Rahul Kanal president of I Love Mumbai Foundation and member of the Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction said ldquoWe hope that the authorities take note of the issue and address it at the earliest Due to issues related to permissions from the Aarey CEOrsquos office and the forest department the BMC was unable to provide a water connection and we had arranged for a tubewell outside the public toiletrdquo