I told him of a conversation I had with the Municipal Commissioner early on in the dog shit campaign, in which I had pointed out that in cities where dog-shit bans were in place the municipality distributed special bags and bins for this purpose. Assuming I agreed to clean up after Julie, where should I put it? As organic material it would shortly disintegrate but in Marine Drive’s prissy, little plastic bins, it would fester and stink.

The official looked puzzled and called his superior officer on his mobile phone. I persisted with my civil disobedience so he reported me to the police, who registered a case against me for violating dog-shit laws.

Thousands of rupees of taxpayers money will presumably now be spent on a court case and the city of Mumbai will continue to be filthy because, as usual, city officials are wasting their time and our money climbing the wrong hill.

Of the dog shit in the streets of Mumbai only a tiny percentage comes from well-bred dogs like Julie. Most of it comes from street dogs. Who is going to clean up after them? In any case should this be a priority? More than half of Mumbai’s citizens live in shanties so filthy that children grow up with the stench of untreated sewage.

Should low-cost housing not be a municipal priority? Should clean drinking water not be a priority? If Johnny Joseph took the trouble to visit a public toilet in one of these slums he would know that Mumbai needs thousands and thousands more public toilets and modern sewage facilities.

... contd.