Following a mid-day report highlighting how two 70-seater public lavatories inaugurated in 2023 were still locked, one of them has finally been opened to the public. The other is expected to be operational soon. Residents of Aarey Milk Colony’s slum pockets and tribal hamlets had long demanded functional toilets, citing the risk of encountering leopards while defecating in the open.

Sandeep Gadhave, Shiv Sena (UBT) shakha pramukh, in front of the newly opened facility. Pics/SATEJ SHINDE