Milind Deora Urges BMC to Name and Shame Public Urinators in Mumbai
On Monday, Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora urged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to consider a policy of naming, shaming, and fining habitual public urinators, spitters, and litterers in Mumbai. The Member of Parliament also suggested extending this punitive measure to blacklisted contractors, while stressing the parallel need to establish clean, safe, and accessible public toilets across the city.
Deora raised the proposal in a post on the social media platform X, where he highlighted an ongoing initiative by the Tinsukia Municipality in Assam. In Tinsukia, local authorities have begun displaying images of individuals caught urinating in public directly onto LED screens. Deora shared a video of the Assam municipality's initiative to demonstrate how the system works in practice.
In his social media post, Deora questioned whether the BMC should implement a similar strategy to curb public nuisances. He asked if the civic body should consider naming, shaming, and fining habitual public urinators, spitters, litterers, and blacklisted contractors. Alongside this punitive approach, Deora emphasized that clean, safe, and accessible public toilets must be made available for residents throughout Mumbai.
The proposal quickly sparked a public debate online, drawing a flurry of reactions from Mumbai residents. Many social media users discussed the feasibility of the idea, while others focused on the city's existing public toilet infrastructure.
The post received several tongue-in-cheek responses from the public. One social media user remarked that the city would "fall short of LED screens" if the BMC attempted to display images of every offender.
Other citizens agreed with the premise of the proposal but emphasized that infrastructure must come first. One commentator stated that while naming and shaming is the only way to stop people from urinating in public, the government also needs to build enough toilets so that people can easily find and access them when needed.
