BMC hasn’t solved 40% of citizens’ complaints, shows data

Of the 53,766 civic complaints BMC received between January 1 and June 19, 32,995 have been addressed, while around 21,000 civic complaints are not yet resolved or closed by the civic body, reveals data.

While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been appealing to citizens to file civic complaints on its multiple online platforms, data showed that nearly 40% of the complaints it received in the first six months of 2019 remained unresolved.

The BMC has been urging citizens to file complaints related to civic issues either on its website, on Twitter, on its mobile application or through its helpline number. (HT File)

Of the 53,766 civic complaints BMC received between January 1 and June 19, 32,995 have been addressed, while around 21,000 civic complaints are not yet resolved or closed by the civic body, reveals data.

The figures also indicate that the problem-resolving ratio of complaints in wards of south Mumbai was higher, with around 70-80% issues being addressed. In wards of western and eastern suburbs, the complaint-resolving ratio was 50-60% or lesser.

The civic body has been urging citizens to file complaints related to civic issues either on its website, on Twitter, on its mobile application or through its helpline number. The complaints registered till June were mostly related to potholes, open manholes, bad patches, illegal encroachments, among other civic issues.

The highest number of civic complaints were recorded in K East and K West wards, which cover areas of Andheri East and Andheri West. While around 8,400 complaints were reported in these two wards collectively between January and June 19, only around 6,000 complaints were addressed.

The lowest number of complaints — 1,000 — were registered from A, R North, and T wards. While A ward consists of areas such as Churchgate and Colaba, R North ward covers Dahisar and T ward spreads across the eastern suburb of Mulund.

In wards such as M East and M West — which cover areas such as Mankhurd, Govandi and Deonar and have a huge slum population — the complaint-redressal ratio was more than 60%. While around 4,000 complaints were reported in the first six months, around 2,500 were addressed and closed.

Mahendra Hemdev, an ALM member from Marine Drive, said BMC officials are now more accessible. “However, there has to be some mechanism to make them accountable for not attending to the complaints and not closing them on priority.” He said he had filed a complaint on BMC’s mobile app a few days ago about a hole near a gutter near Churchgate station. “However, to my surprise, the complaint was closed even without being attending to. It was only after I brought it to the notice of the ward officer, was the complaint attended to and the hole was shut,” he said.

A BMC official said every official gets seven days to close a complaint. “Our mechanism is very clear. If an official does not close an online complaint within a week, it automatically goes to his seniors who get a sufficient period to close them at their level. If the complaints are not still not closed, they are redirected to the municipal commissioner.”