Bhubaneswar: Union urban development ministry which launched a user-friendly ‘Swachhata App’ in August 2016 to make Swachh Bharat Mission successful through grievance redressal process has received 69 grievances from the city so far.
The App can be downloaded by smart or iPhone users first and images of unhygienic area and garbage litter can be uploaded for information of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) which will resolve the problem. Of the 69 complaints which BMC has received, 66 have been successfully resolved by the civic body. As many as 49 grievances have been resolved in January.
Conscious citizens can post their grievances which have been classified under a few categories such as dead animals on road, dustbins not cleared, garbage dumps, non-arrival of garbage vehicle, sweeping not done, no electricity in public toilets, public toilets sans water, public toilet blockage and public toilet cleaning.
‘‘Except dead animals category, all other grievances can be addressed within 12 hours,” said BMC grievance redressal officer Hemant Kumar Pradhan.
Abhishek Mishra, a resident of Chandersekharpur, said, “The initiative is praiseworthy. Earlier, we had to go to BMC office and submit a written complaint which was time-consuming. Now, it’s very simple. I posted the photo of garbage dump at XIMB square and the issue was addressed within 24 hours.”
Debasis Sahoo who had posted the photo of an unclean dustbin said “Prompt action taken by BMC is laudable. They cleaned the area by the next day.” Citizen feedback will play an important role in the Swachh Survekshan-2017, wherein 30 per cent marks are awarded to the institution on the basis of feedback.
“We are trying our best to make the city clean. Day and night sweeping is going on in the city. We are doing our best to improve the city,” said Mayor Ananta Narayana Jena.
Several citizens, however, are still not aware of the app. BMC public relation officer Gopal Panigarhi said, “We are creating awareness among the people through various fora. We are advertising through newspapers, TV channels and bulk SMSes. We are also making direct contact with the people to make them aware of the facility.”
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