Bengaluru’s crumbling footpaths, pothole-ridden roads and pedestrian safety concerns have long remained a sore point for residents navigating the city. From broken pavements and missing sidewalks to encroachments forcing people onto busy roads, civic infrastructure issues continue to spark frustration online.
Now, a Bengaluru teenager has attempted to tackle the problem with a tech-based solution that he describes as “Tinder for Footpaths.”
Surya Uthkarsha, a 14-year-old from Bengaluru, shared a video on X showcasing a mobile application called “RASTHE,” a crowdsourced platform that allows users to report damaged or unusable footpaths directly to Bengaluru’s municipal corporation, BBMP.
“I have built a mobile app for Bengaluru users to report footpaths. Say you don’t like a footpath or it’s broken or unusable, upload an image while reporting it, and it shows up on the crowdsourced grid and mapped to your ward, so BBMP can easily fix it,” Surya said in the video.
He also said that the app has a ranking system where users can swipe between footpaths and mark them as “better” or “worse,” eventually identifying the best and worst footpaths in Bengaluru based on public voting. “You can also nominate a footpath which is bad or good, and people can vote on it so you can finally understand which is the best footpath in Bengaluru,” he added.
In the caption accompanying the post, Surya wrote, “I fixed Bengaluru and TRAFFIC in 30 minutes. Meet RASTHE: Tinder for Footpaths.”
{{/usCountry}}In the caption accompanying the post, Surya wrote, “I fixed Bengaluru and TRAFFIC in 30 minutes. Meet RASTHE: Tinder for Footpaths.”
{{/usCountry}}He further explained that the app allows residents to report broken or missing footpaths, upvote areas requiring urgent attention and “turn every citizen into a sensor for the city”. “If roads are built for cars, this is built for people,” he wrote, adding that improved pedestrian infrastructure could prevent people from walking on roads and potentially reduce congestion.
He concluded his post saying that the app was built in 30 minutes using the platform “10x Apps” and is ready to be submitted to the App Store.
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Social media reactions
The post quickly drew attention online, with several users praising the idea and discussing Bengaluru’s long-standing pedestrian infrastructure problems.
Caleb Friesen, a Canadian national who has been living in India since 2017 and often posts about civic issues in Bengaluru, reacted to the app saying, “People don't realise how meaningfully this would affect traffic. people love walking, it's just that Bengaluru isn't built for pedestrians. Apart from 100 ft rd and a few parks (which close/open at odd hours), there are very few places where being a pedestrian is safe.”
“good job, we need more tech solutions for such problems,” commented one user.
“Entire BLR need a fix,” remarked another.
“Amazing work.. by the way. Bengaluru really needed this!” wrote another.
However, some users questioned whether another complaint platform would make a difference if civic authorities failed to act on complaints.
“Will BBMP engineers fix issues only after they are raised here? They already have a platform called Sahaaya, but pothole and footpath complaints there are rarely resolved. I had raised nearly 10 pothole complaints over the past year, yet most are still pending,” commented one user,” one user commented.