Hyderabad: Seeti and Lathi' to stop open peeing
These points are located at bus stops, railways stations and public grounds among others.
Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has unveiled a new tool to fight open defecation. Under the ‘Seeti and Lathi’ programme, GHMC workers will keep a vigil on the suspect locations at 150 wards. These points are located at bus stops, railways stations and public grounds among others. The worker will whistle and then hit the lathi on the ground if someone caught red-handed while urinating in a public place.
On a trial bases, workers were deployed in Greater Hyderabad on Wednesday who did whistle and alert men urinating in open places. “Our intention is to curb open defecation. Sanitation workers have been given additional task to keep a vigil on open urination. If spotted, they will shoo them away with the lathi. In certain cases, a fine will be imposed, said an officer in the GHMC health and sanitation wing.
The city received the open defecation-free tag after all its corporators gave an undertaking that their respective wards were ODF.
There are several vulnerable points that have no toilets. Indira Nagar in Balanagar, which is home to more than 2,000 slum dwellers, has hardly enough toilets for men and women.
Earlier, the GHMC adopted the method of fine and shame. In the majority of the cases, men were garlanded for urinating in public places. In certain cases, flowers were given to men to shame them. Later, mobile courts fined the violators. However, that practice hit the wall.