19 July,2017 06:00 PM IST | Mumbai | Rupsa Chakraborty
Days after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis bragged about re-validation, plush Mahim high-rise’s residents point to repulsive sight right outside their homes every morning
Evershine Meadows in Mahim that overlooks railway tracks
Amit Rao's face creases into a smirk as he finds out that Mumbai has been re-certified 'open defecation-free'. The resident of Evershine Meadows in Mahim opens a window of his apartment to trash the claim. Outside, on the tracks are people on their haunches, relieving themselves.
On July 7, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had tweeted that Mumbai had been re-validated as an open-defecation free city by the Quality Council of India, a central government-affiliated agency, a day prior. Mumbai had received its first validation in January. The re-assessment was held in the first week of July.
The view from Evershine Meadows. Pic/ Pradeep Dhivar
Rao alleges that several of those relieving themselves every morning are contract workers of the Railways since proper sanitation facilities are lacking in the railway yard. "We have been suffering for months. We keep our windows shut all day to avoid seeing people defecate in the open."
Other residents claim that railway officers allow their workers to 'go' in the open for a fee of R5 each. The onset of the monsoon has only made things worse; excreta gets mixed with the rainwater run-off and washes into residential areas.
Ejaz Naqvi, a HC lawyer who resides in the area
"We are taking ill and feel breathless as the smell of faeces hits us. There is no proper toilet in the railway yard, where the workers stay with their families. This forces them to defecate in the open," claims Ejaz Naqvi, a senior HC advocate who resides in the vicinity.
Frustrated with the repulsive sight outside their building, residents of Evershine Meadows sent a complaint on July 12 to the senior manager of Mahim and senior police inspector of Dadar railway station, pointing out that the failure to provide railway workers with toilet facilities is a violation of the Factories Act, 1948. "Under the Factories Act, employers - in this case, the railways - need to take care of the basic needs of workers, even if they are on contract," says Naqvi.
The view that assails residents' eyes. Pics/ Pradeep Dhivar
The residents attached photographic evidence with their complaint.
Naqvi says the letter requests the authorities to provide adequate facilities for the railway workers.
