Mumbai: BMC takes to Twitter to address complaints of potholes

Once a picture of a pothole is tagged with @potholetracking, a complaint will be officially registered, following which road engineers and contractors will have to fill the pothole within 48 hours.

Now, you can report potholes on Twitter as well, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched the Twitter handle @potholetracking to register complaints about potholes on Mumbai roads. The handle will be linked to the civic body’s existing pothole tracking website www.voiceofcitizen.com, where citizens can lodge complaints by uploading pictures of potholes and track the status of work done on them.

Once a picture of a pothole is tagged with @potholetracking, a complaint will be officially registered, following which road engineers and contractors will have to fill the pothole within 48 hours.

“The complainant needs to either geo-tag the pothole or upload the picture with the location, which will then be uploaded on voiceofcitizen.com by the moderator. After the complaint is filed, a notification with the picture will be sent to the complainant on their Twitter handle. An SMS on the status of work done will also be sent,” said an official from the software company.

So far, a total of 1,344 potholes have been reported on the website, of which 938 have been filled.

Additional municipal commissioner SVR Srinivas said, “The Twitter account has been made considering citizens are more active on the platform and it becomes easier to upload (pictures).”

Many potholes have also surfaced on roads which have just been completed and on those still being built. However, there is no system to address the problem of potholes on the widely-used Eastern and Western express highways maintained by the public works department.

“The condition of roads on the highways is only get worse. Citizens are facing a tough time,” said Jitendra Desai, a commuter.