Hyderabad: Yet again, a few major walls in Mehdipatnam have been adorned with religious symbols of all communities to stop the public urinating on them. A message towards the end of the wall also states that GHMC will impose a fine of Rs 500 on those who urinate on these walls. The walls near the Rythu Bazaar and under the flyover have been painted by the GHMC in what looks like a desperate attempt to curb the menace.
A similar activity was taken up a couple of months ago, on another portion of a wall in Mehdipatnam, which has now lost its sheen. Spitting hasn’t stopped on these walls, neither has littering or urination.
The idea of turning to Gods and religion was first conceived during the United Nations Conference of Parties on Biological Diversity held in the city in October 2012. Although, the Rythu Bazaar area of Mehdipatnam has been stinking and crying for attention for a long time now, the quick fix will not help in the long run. Even as the GHMC has been attempting to stop the problem of public urination in this area, hardly any infrastructure has been added here.
In Mehdipatnam, as per an RTI reply, one public toilet/urinal complex was built in August 2003 and two more were constructed in 2007 near pillar no. 14 and at Sarojini Hospital.
The ones in the complexes or shops aren’t accessible to the public or hawkers. A large part of the problem in this area is the high number of hawkers, influx of shoppers and commuters.
“Men still can relieve themselves somewhere or the other. For women, the existing ones are in terrible state and we don’t dare use them,” said Shahnaz Begum, a hawker selling lemons.
