The Hindu      08.07.2016   

Mobile app for slum dwellers

Slum dwellers in the Capital will soon be able to
register complaints of malfunctioning or dirty toilets with just a tap
on their mobile phones. The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board
(DUSIB) is planning to launch a mobile app for swift resolution of
issues related to community toilets.

“The demand to
have a common grievance redressal mechanism for toilets was repeatedly
raised by inhabitants of slums and JJ clusters. So, we have designed an
app to ensure time-bound redressal of complaints, which will be open to
public within a few months,” informed DUSIB officials.

Simplified process

The
app has been colour-coded keeping in mind the literacy level of the
slum dwellers. Anyone who wants to suggest anything about a particular
community toilet will just have to tap on one of the three colours.
“Tapping red will mean a toilet is in pathetic or bad condition and
needs immediate action. Yellow means good, whereas, green would indicate
that the unit is in excellent condition,” said a senior official.

These
coloured ratings will be available for various complaints spread across
8-10 categories, which would include parameters like cleanliness,
sewage line (if its overflowing or not), condition of the WCs, water
availability and so on.

For
complaints that do not fall in any of the categories, a separate box
will be provided at the bottom of the page where one can type out the
specific problem.

As soon as a complaint is
registered, an auto-generated mail will be sent to the executive
engineer of the area, who will have to get the problem rectified within
48 hours. The entire system will be monitored by superiors.

In
case of inability of taking any action due to some reason, the matter
will be referred to the Chief Engineer and then the Chief Executive
Officer.

At present, the app is being used for trial by DUSIB for its internal monitoring.