The City of Lakes where most celebs and global rich come to wed, party and spend a romantic time; has one of its dark secrets come out in open.

Delhi based Center for Policy Research and Udaipur’s Vidya Bhawan Polytechnic in a survey have spotted 5,000 piles of human waste left by open defecators on the shores of the city’s Pichola and Fateh Sagar Lake. The information has been plotted on a Global Information System map and released for worldwide viewing.

The idea of the survey is to raise awareness against a practice that pollutes the lake and ensure that the foreign tourist inflow doesn’t suffer. Anil Mehta, principal of Polytechnic says, “Open defecation is a blot in the city and reflects the mindset that pooping in the open is more hygienic,”

The 3-day survey was conducted in July, the results of which were published in December last year. Statistically, 5000 defecators which come to 1,670 a day makes 0.4 per cent of the city’s population. Although the per cent is low, it is still a matter of concern for a city that has been ranked top in the world’s lists for its beauty, travel and luxury hotels.

Due to this, the city has high incidences of waterborne diseases like typhoid, paratyphoid, amoebic dysentery, colitis, diarrhea and viral hepatitis, seen widely among the 60,000 people living around the lakes.

Collector Ashutosh Pednekar said, “The open defecation points in the city have been identified and 200 bio-digester toilets are being installed across the city.” He added that the toilets, designed by Defense Research and Development Organization use bacteria to treat the waste.

Local organizations who have been fighting to save the lakes through court petitions since the 1980’s want the city to be free of open defecation by 2019.

Source: Telegraph India