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Take early morning walks to prevent open defecation, Pune civic officials told
When HT photographers visited a few spots, they found open defecation at Mukundnagar near Swargate, on the banks of Mutha river near Aundh and near Market Yard. Most of these spots were in and around slums.
Pune municipal commissioner, Saurabh Rao, has directed assistant commissioners of every ward to take early morning walks and spend at least two hours in their respective wards to bring open defecation under check.
This is following complaints from residents about open defecation in parts of the city. When HT photographers visited a few spots, they found open defecation at Mukundnagar near Swargate, on the banks of Mutha river near Aundh and near Market Yard. Most of these spots were in and around slums.
On October 2, 2017, the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had declared urban areas of Maharashtra as Open Defecation Free (ODF) at an event in Mumbai in the presence of President Ramnath Kovind.
The Pune civic commissioner, in a recent meeting with department heads and assistant commissioners, directed all the ward officers to take a morning walk and emphasise on an open defecation-free city. There are a total of 15 assistant commissioners under the PMC, one for each ward. There has been a concerted effort on the part of the PMC to improve the city’s Swachh Survekshan survey rankings which improved from 13 in 2017 to 10 in 2018 and then dropped drastically to 37 in 2019.
Sunil Yadav, assistant commissioner of Hadapsar ward said, “Yes it is true that we have got directives from the commissioner to spend at least two hours in the wee hours to ensure that there is no open defecation. In my ward there is on-going work regarding toilets. Also, we have not received any complaints of open defecation last year or this year.”
Yadav said, during this morning surveillance, the civic officials mainly focus on vulnerable areas like slums where there is a higher chance of open defecation.
Dnyaneshwar Molak, head of PMC solid waste management department, said, “From November 2018 to December 3, 2019, PMC has collected more than Rs one core as penalty from over 44,031 residents. We have constructed over 46,500 individual toilets as against the 17,500 target set by the central government. We do not need to build any more toilets. In fact, we will now renovate about 310 toilets as ‘best’ toilets which will have facilities like hand dryer, sanitary napkins, incinerators and mirror.”
Molak admitted that not a single case of open defecation penalty has been recorded. To keep a check on open defecators, the civic body also has a team of “Seeti and Kathi” pathak (whistle and stick patrol), who drive away offenders with whistles and sticks.
Pratima Joshi, executive director of Shelter Associates, a voluntary organisation which has been engaged in improving living standards constructing toilets for slum dwellers said there was indeed evidence of open defecation in the city. She said that while the number of individual toilets in slums had gone up, reducing the pressure on community toilets, “there may be sporadic incidents of open defecation because no city can be free of it.”
For an ODF city
• Penalty for ODF under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)
• Penalty collected by PMC from November 2018 to December 3, 2019: Rs One crore from 44,031 residents
Spitting-Rs 150
Garbage- Rs 180
Defecation- Rs 500
Garbage burning- Rs 500
Open urination: Rs 200
• Not a single case of open defecation penalty
• The PMC has built 46,500 individual toilets, as against the 17,500 target set by the central government.
• 1,224 community toilets to be constructed of which 310 will be “best” toilets by December
