Have You Used The Swachh App Yet? Authorities Say Have Addressed 85% Complaints

Swachh is the catch word as the government is going all out to promote cleanliness across the country. To prove this, the government launched the Swachh mobile application 10 months back to bring the country together through this digital platform. Now, if government reports are to be believed that the app has already received over 11 lakh complaints out of which 10 lakh have been already resolved.

Of the total 10 lakh, Madhya Pradesh gets the credit for having resolved many issues in the quickest way possible. As per a national daily, 40 per cent of these complaints were related to delay in cleaning garbage dumps. All complaints need to be resolved within 12 hours while those regarding animal carcass must be dealt within 48 hours.

In fact, most state governments and ministries have also started off with their own Swachh rankings and details. Here is a gist:

• In Delhi, in order to combat air pollution, the “Swachh Delhi” app seeks to empower citizens to complain against garbage, burning of dry leaves in the open and polluting vehicles. The sanitation inspectors have been made in charge of the procedures and would be called for an explanation if the matter is not resolved.

• The Central government and the Greater Chennai Corporation have also come together with a 'Swachhata' App which is available as a link from the corporation's official website. The nodal officers receive the complaints and allot it to the concerned ward assistant engineers. The app captures the location where the photograph was taken.

• 11 local bodies and 30 wards have been linked to Swachh Sitapur app and it allows a user to locate a nearby municipal dustbin, contact a 'safai nayak' to collect garbage, request for emptying full municipal dustbins and submit GPS-tagged garbage pictures to intimate authorities. Status of requests can also be tracked.

• Vishakapatnam that couldn't make use of the app launched by the Urban Development Ministry due to technical issues has started using it since the beginning of this year.

• South Delhi Corporation mayor also launched the Swachh Map mobile app to allow residents to post pictures of garbage being dumped in any area. The application was launched in, Dwarka-B, as a pilot project.

• If you are not happy with the way monuments in India have been maintained or wish to report littering etc, there is a new app to do so. Till July, 116 monuments across the country would be covered under this initiative which makes it easier for visitors to report. It is not an open app and has a range of 30 metres only.

Ahmedabad, Goa, Gurgaon, Indore, Pune, Navsari, Deoghar, Varanasi, Bilaspur, Tiruppur, Godhara, Rajkot, Vapi, Mysore, Ranchi among others have also been using the app but level of success varies.

The complainant is alerted about the status of his complaint and as a proof, the picture of the cleaned place is sent back to him/her.