MCG’s 24-hour grievance redressal portal faces flak over delays, incomplete fixes

According to civic body’s data, 3,332 of the 4,157 complaints registered on the portal till October 25 had been marked resolved, a disposal rate of around 80%

Eighteen days after the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) launched its ”24-hour challenge” grievance redressal portal, residents have alleged that civic complaints are being marked resolved without satisfactory action, while others are being passed between departments or remain unattended beyond the stipulated deadlines.

The portal, launched on October 10 with the tagline “You spot it, we fix it”, allows residents to upload photographs of civic problems along with their locations. (HT Archive)

The portal, launched on October 10 with the tagline “You spot it, we fix it”, allows residents to upload photographs of civic problems along with their locations. The complaints are then forwarded to the agencies concerned, which are required to upload photographs after addressing the issues.

According to civic body’s data, 3,332 of the 4,157 complaints registered on the portal till October 25 had been marked resolved, a disposal rate of around 80%.

The portal covers five categories of complaints, with deadlines ranging from 24 to 72 hours. Garbage heaps are to be cleared within 24 hours, tree-pruning requests addressed within 48 hours, and major potholes, non-functional streetlights and sewer overflows resolved within 72 hours.

However, residents in several sectors said complaints had remained unattended beyond these deadlines, while others had been marked resolved despite the problems persisting.

Pakhi Sharma, a resident of Sector 14, said she filed complaints about accumulated garbage, overflowing sewage and damaged roads on October 23. She alleged that some complaints took four to five days to be addressed, while others were only partially resolved.

Sharma said the garbage heap was cleared within 48 hours, while her complaint about overflowing sewage was addressed after four days. However, her complaint about dust-covered roads was marked resolved despite only partial cleaning.

In Sector 102, Gursimron Singh, a resident of Adani Oyster, alleged that his complaint about non-functional streetlights and missing light poles, filed on October 23, was repeatedly transferred between MCG, the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA). He said the complaint remained unresolved five days after it was filed.

“We have been complaining about the non-functional street lights for a while now. After the portal was launched, we had hoped the issue would be resolved, but nothing has been done,” Singh said.

Subrata Dutta, a resident of Experion Heartsong in Sector 108, said he had complained on October 25 about 20 to 25 non-functional streetlights along the stretch from Dhankot Chowk to Sobha City.

“We have filed more than 15 complaints with the MCG and the GMDA since 2018. All we have gotten is band-aid solutions with no permanent repair work,” Dutta alleged.

He said two days after the complaint was filed, authorities uploaded a photograph of the streetlights in broad daylight, which the complainant said left him with no way to know whether they were working or not.

Similar concerns were raised on social media. An X user alleged that a photograph uploaded as proof of garbage clearance showed a different location from the original complaint.

Mukesh Lamba, a resident of Sector 46, alleged that some complaints were being marked resolved after officials uploaded the same photographs that complainants had originally submitted.

MCG joint commissioner Sapna Yadav said photographs were uploaded only after senior officials verified the work before closing complaints.

“Sometimes we also post photos of the work in progress,” Yadav said.