Concerned husband or conscientious citizen? In this case, Akshay Kumar is both! Eight months ago, his wife Twinkle Khanna had tweeted to her 31-odd lakh followers about how people defecating in the open on Juhu beach, were ruining her morning walks. The actor turned author, however, had to face a barrage of criticism for her supposedly insensitive tweet, as users pointed out that given the lack of public loos, the slum-dwellers had no other choice but defecate on the beach.

https://twitter.com/mrsfunnybones/status/898778647644983297

However, the incident has apparently galvanised her husband Akshay Kumar to take positive action. The actor has funded a row of bio-toilets opened for public use on Juhu beach. He has combined forces with Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray to install the toilets, spending around Rs.10 lakh on the loos.

Twinkle took to Twitter to thank Aaditya for the initiative:

https://twitter.com/mrsfunnybones/status/981081968950603776

The newly installed toilet has six seats - three each for men and women, and a separate row of urinals. What’s more they will apparently not raise a stink either. Sai, “The toilets have bio-digester so there will be no stink. The toilets will bring a lot of relief to not just the local slum dwellers, but also to visitors.” Currently, there is only one public toilet at the main entry of the 6 km beach.

[caption id="attachment_54269" align="aligncenter" width="398"] Image Courtesy: Twitter[/caption]

However, fact remains that despite the toilets that have been sponsored by Akshay, the problem still remains to be completely eradicated. It would require at least three to four more such toilets in order to make Juhu and Versova beaches defecation free zones.
It is nevertheless heartening to see Akshay put his might behind this issue. Last year, he had co-produced and acted in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which had dealt with the problem of open defecation in rural areas. The problem continues to be a serious issue in Mumbai as well, with at least 117 major open defecation spots existing in the city.

With Mumbai needing around 60,000 toilet seats to reach the figure of 1.36 toilet seats required to cater to Mumbai’s slum population, kudos to Akshay for helping the city inch closer to the target.

Recommended Read: The amazing results of the PadMan Movement

It seems after PadMan, Akshay is determined to make conscious efforts to bring in a positive change in the society.