E-Paper
Chandigarh: Facing a civic issue? Make MC act via Twitter
Chandigarh MC officials, who earlier seldom responded to residents’ posts on Twitter, have been directed to act immediately on such complaints
Now, from getting potholed roads repaired to getting garbage collected from the doorsteps, Chandigarh residents can make the municipal corporation officials act by posting their complaints on Twitter.
MC officials, who earlier seldom responded to residents’ posts on Twitter, have been directed to act immediately on such complaints.
The working of the MC’s helpline (0172-2787200) has been marred by slow turnaround time. However, residents say MC officials have started responding to their Twitter posts with solutions on the ground.
One such resident — PGIMER doctor Pulkit Rastogi, who lives in Sector 40 — on Sunday morning shared a Twitter post about garbage not being picked from his house and mentioned the MC handle. Soon after, the chief sanitary inspector contacted Rastogi and got the garbage collected. “The issue was resolved within half an hour,” said Rastogi.
We read and act on all posts: MC chief
“With the growing popularity of social media, it was felt that it will be a good medium to receive feedback from citizens. Therefore, we have started sharing our initiatives on Twitter and Facebook. Even citizens have been regularly posting their grievances on these forums,” said MC commissioner Anindita Mitra.
Though it is not possible to respond to each Twitter post individually, Mitra said every post is read and action initiated on it through the engineering or enforcement wings.
The MC’s Twitter handle is @MCChandigarh. It is also active on Facebook through the page “Chandigarh — My City My Pride”. For compliance of assignments given to the field staff, all officials also have to submit their work progress along with photographs on a Google Form on a daily basis.
