BMC releases WhatsApp numbers for pothole complaints

May 22, 2018 12:42 am | Updated 12:42 am IST

Mumbai: Ahead of this monsoon too, Mumbaikars can register complaints on potholes with the authorities. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a list of WhatsApp numbers of its road engineers across 24 wards where Mumbaikars can submit the complaints. This has been a practice for the past two years based on a High Court directive. Citizens can click pictures of potholes in their area and submit complaints on WhatsApp apart from traditional methods of registering complaints.

In July 2016, the Bombay High Court directed the BMC to make the phone numbers of all its road engineers public. The HC was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation on the poor condition of roads in the city. The directive followed complaints of the BMC’s app for pothole repairs being dysfunctional.

After the court directive, the BMC issued a list of its officers’ numbers in various city newspapers in 2016. The idea was that people could click pictures of any pothole they saw on a road and send it, along with the exact location, to the relevant road engineer. However, there were glitches in the first set of numbers issued, following which the BMC retracted the list and issued a new one.

A fresh list has been published as an advertisement in city newspapers on May 18. The list consists of contacts of 24 engineers, one from each city ward, for registering complaints. “We have ensured that all numbers are functioning. The ads have been issued. People should submit the exact location to us and our staffers will fill up the pothole,” said Vinod Chithore, Chief Engineer, Roads Department.

However, Mr. Chithore accepted that there was no centralised data or documentation of complaints registered on WhatsApp. This means, senior officials have no way of finding out if their juniors have addressed the complaint. “But citizens will be in constant contact with the engineer. This will ensure work is done,” he said.

Apart from this, people can also register complaints on the BMC’s ‘MCGM 24x7’ mobile app. Alternatively, they can call the Disaster Control Room on 1916 to lodge complaints. In both these methods, every complaint along with its details are documented in the department’s servers. This means seniors can check the performance of junior officials. It is also possible to submit exact location through GPS on the app.

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