Farhana Shaikh used to recoil in disgust when she went to use the communal toilet in Dharavi. But since the pandemic struck, efforts to fight COVID-19 have dramatically improved public sanitation in one of Asia's largest slums.
Indian cities face record daily deaths, but new cases have plunged in the Mumbai slum in recent weeks as officials bolstered anti-virus measures first put in place last year — from mass testing to disinfections in public areas, including bathrooms.
"The toilet is being cleaned every day since the last year, as against once a week earlier. There's soap and sanitizer, and a box for disposing sanitary pads that were otherwise strewn around," said Shaikh, 30.