DCW team finds 50 litres of acid inside MCD toilet in central Delhi

NEW DELHI: Around 50 litres of corrosive acid was found in a can inside a public toilet in central Delhi's Daryaganj during a surprise inspection by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Friday. The sale of acid is banned in the national capital.
Mayor Shelly Oberoi said an inquiry would be initiated and action would be taken against the guilty. The seizure prompted BJP to demand that Delhi government should answer how acid is available in Delhi despite a ban. Blaming civic officials for their lackadaisical approach, activists demanded stricter measures to stop the unabated acid sale in the city.
During an inspection of Municipal Corporation Delhi toilets, DCW found the container in a toilet located opposite GB Pant Hospital gate number 8. The caretaker told the team that the acid was used to clean toilets and replenished every two months by his seniors.
MCD officials have, however, denied the claim. A list of items, including phenyl and other bathroom cleaners, is issued by the MCD store for cleaning toilets and the use of acid is not allowed, claimed an official. "Appropriate action will be taken to prevent such a thing in the future," he said.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal, who was part of the team, said, "The acid could have been used by people for criminal activities. The fact that acid is being used in public toilets for cleaning purposes on a large scale is unacceptable and shameful. Strict action should be taken against the authorities for encouraging the use of acid for cleaning toilets."
Maliwal has summoned MCD officials to appear before DCW on April 11 and sought a report on the reasons for using acid in cleaning public toilets and the action taken against the responsible officials.
In 2013, the Supreme Court banned the over-the-counter sale of acid across India in the wake of rising acid attack incidents. However, activist Shaheen Malik, an acid attack survivor and founder of Brave Soul Foundation, said, "In 2009, acid was thrown at me, my face got disfigured and I have lost partial eyesight. It's terrifying that despite SC's strict regulations, the sale of acid is constant. In many areas, even cycle vendors sell acid and deliver it to people's houses." Ashish Shukla of Chhanv Foundation, which helps acid attack survivors, said, "Even after so many years of the SC order, officials cannot check sale of acid. It shows their lackadaisical approach."
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha president Yogita Singh and councillor Kamaljit Sehrawat called the recovery from a toilet block located hardly 200 yards from the MCD headquarters a grave concern and a big threat to the safety of women. It showed that sanitation department officials were negligent, they alleged.