Nagpur: It seems the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is playing ‘dirty’ games to fool Nagpurians on the pretext of resolving civic complaints filed by the citizens on various social media platforms.
Earlier in 2020, the NMC had launched a grievance redressal app — Nagpur Live City — for the citizens to lodge civic complaints. Every registered complaint was forwarded to the department concerned for necessary action. Subsequently, the NMC received thousands of complaints about various civic amenities. The complaints mostly related to choked sewerage, followed by solid waste management or irregular lifting of garbage, low pressure water supply, encroachments, bad roads, stray dog menace, people urinating in public places, garbage dumping in the open and non-functioning of street lights etc etc.
However, even after receiving hundreds of complaints on Nagpur Live City app, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms, the NMC just indulged in “show business.” Hardly a few complaints were resolved by the concerned authorities.
Playing “over smart”, the NMC now introduced WhatsApp helpline number 8600004746 for the “convenience” of citizens to upload their complaints about deficiency in services. Citizens were finding it cumbersome to lodge their complaints on Nagpur Live City App. The move is nothing but to fool Nagpurians by one means or another.
Experience reveals that the civic complaints lodged by citizens hardly get the attention of the NMC authorities, forget resolving them. Reports revealed that the NMC registered more complaints pertaining to solid waste management. The problems in the city are becoming chronic due to choked sewerage lines as complaints pertaining to contamination of wells are on the rise. It has also come to the fore that complaints about streetlights and encroachments cases across the city apart from those about bad roads. Even stray cattle and dog menace increased in the city, as reflected in the app.
The NMC claimed to have promptly resolved over 90% grievances registered on the Nagpur Live City app. But the picture is totally different.
Now, according to the reports, over 500 civic complaints were logged till 4.30pm on the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s WhatsApp helpline number 8600004746 on Day 1 of the facility being thrown open for the public on Tuesday. The very first day was flooded with complaints from old city areas as well as the outskirts. Residents also posted complaints pertaining to trees leaning dangerously and which can collapse any moment.
While many citizens added the NMC’s WhatsApp number in their groups, several also tried to call to lodge their complaints. According to many residents, the NMC is indulging in greater awareness among citizens nowadays to utilise social media to air their grievances. But the experience of Nagpur City Live app is not good. With the introduction of WhatsApp number, the NMC should ensure the complaints are resolved, they said.
However, citizens suffer due to short cuts adopted by some of the employees or some issues requiring urgent attention of senior officers. Complaints are being lodged with the NMC regarding the basic problems faced by the citizens. Citizens are being requested from time to time to register complaints on the Live City App by the administration.
