Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday launched an app — Green Delhi — which will involve citizen participation and ensure timely action in the government’s fight against pollution.
The app enables citizens to register complaints, report pollution sources and violations of anti-pollution norms.
“The people of Delhi are suffering due to rising pollution levels. In the last five years, pollution has reduced by 25% due to several measures taken by the Delhi government and the people. Today, we are launching the 'Green Delhi' App. Our aim is to enable every citizen to participate in our 'Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh' campaign. No movement can happen until people take part in the movement,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Citizens can take photos, videos and audio of local causes of pollution such as garbage burning, industrial pollution and construction dust among others and upload on the app. For the effective resolution of the complaints, Mr. Kejriwal said, constant monitoring will be done at the Delhi government’s Green War Room. Complaints lodged on the app, which is currently available on the Play Store and will soon be rolled out on other platforms, will be received by the departments concerned and will have to be resolved in a time-bound manner as per specified timelines.
Mr. Kejriwal said citizens will also have the option of reopening complaints if they feel they have not been addressed adequately. He said when the issue is resolved, the department will also upload a picture that should show that the complaint has been resolved in a specified timeline.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai later said the app has received 228 complaints related to pollution since its launch.
He added that a meeting on the complaints received and overall monitoring with nodal officers and coordinators of every department will be conducted on November 2.
Green marshals deployed
“For the monitoring of the complaints, we are deploying 70 Green Marshals. For instance, if a complaint is being registered repeatedly despite being resolved, the green marshals will visit the location to inspect the situation for any false reporting,” Mr. Rai added.
“Please make us aware of any difficulties that you may face in the app initially, and we will work towards resolving them. Our aim is to involve every agency and department, be it DDA, MCD, Delhi government, to strengthen our 'Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh',” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Around 21 departments, including civic bodies, DDA, DJB, Delhi Police, DSIDC, Delhi government departments, he said, are attached to the app and every department has a nodal officer along with a senior officer who is in charge of all the complaints registered related to the department.
“Around 12 coordinators have been assigned to the green war room who will check every complaint and overlook the resolution of all the complaints as per the timeline, especially a specified timeline of 48 hours. If the complaints are not resolved within 48 hours, they will coordinate with the senior officials of the departments and work to resolve the complaints,” Mr. Rai said.
