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An app to keep an eye on errant civic officials
NEW DELHI: If you are fed up of errant municipal sweepers who fail to turn up to clear garbage from your locality or forget to sweep the road and clear the community
NEW DELHI: If you are fed up of errant municipal sweepers who fail to turn up to clear garbage from your locality or forget to sweep the road and clear the community dustbins, you have help at hand.
The Union urban development (UD) ministry launched a Swachhata (cleanliness) App, a mobile application on Android and iOS, on Saturday to address complaints related to civic issues.
All you need to do is click a picture of the garbage dump or overflowing dustbins and post it on the app. The post will automatically be forwarded to the municipal authority concerned as all the urban local bodies have been mapped to the app.
UD ministry officials said they have fixed a time frame for redressing different categories of complaints received through the app. For instance, overflowing dustbins and garbage dumps have to be cleared and sweeping has to be done within 12 hours of lodging a compliant. If there is no water supply or electricity in public toilets or there is a blockage, it will have to be fixed within 12 hours. The app will pinpoint the location of the complaint using geo-location.
“The objective is to ensure faster resolution of complaints. Once a picture is posted on mobile or a web platform, authorities won’t be able to ignore it,” said a senior UD ministry official.
Once a complaint is registered, the complainant will be provided regular updates. Citizens can give feedback on the quality of resolution. To ensure there is no laxity, a website has also been created for municipal commissioners and their digital team to monitor complaints.
Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu also launched a pan-India four digit helpline — 1969 — for citizens to seek information about the Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas.
