LUDHIANA: People around
the city now find it easy to reach the Municipal Corporation, but still
want the body to gear up and deliver more rapidly. After getting their
problems solved within three days, many people complained about
recurrence of those problems.

Although the new app launched by
the MC did resolve the problems of many complainants in the city, there
were some who wanted the MC to speed up its work. People often complain
about many problems recurring due to the lax attitude of the MC.
“Implementation of this app was a good initiative, but they should be
active and concerned about it as well. Problems are recurring again and
again, which irk the common people. In the end, they will consider it a
useless app if their problems are not resolved immediately and
satisfactorily,” said Sukhdev Chadda of Gurdev Nagar. The same problem
was faced by Gurmeet Singh
Sethi of GT Road. He said: “I complained about three problems in my
area. It was about parks and dilapidated roads. MC repaired the roads in
three days, but after a month, it’s back to the earlier condition. And
about parks, nothing was done.”

People suggested that the MC take up more initiatives like Ludhiana Municipal Corporation
Citizens’ Reporting and Mapping Tool (LMC CRAMAT), so that citizens do
not have to run around offices for getting their work done. Dr Suman
Bali of Sector 39 complained about water sanitation, which was rapidly
acted upon by the MC and solved within 3-4 days. “It’s a good initiative
taken up by the corporation. It’s easier to reach them directly and get
the problem solved with the help of initiatives like this, as it’s not
possible for everyone to run around different offices in the city.”

The organization launched its first mobile app LMC CRAMAT
on March 5 to register the complaints of citizens, which could be made
easily accessible to anyone throughout the city. In a period of one
month, the corporation has received 162 complaints to date, out of which
88 have been resolved, while 64 are still pending. LMC CRAMAT can
register complaints in 10 categories from residents, namely street
lights, water supply or sewage, roads, sanitation, tehbazaari,
encroachments, horticulture, unauthorized construction, city bus
service, and illegal advertisements/hoardings.

Reacting to the
problems and the success or usefulness of the app, Isha Kalia,
additional commissioner Zone D said: “We are working on many other
advanced projects like this and will try to work more rapidly. I hope we
will be able to make the process of complaints and documentation easier
for people around the city.”

“I am happy with the MC
initiative. My complaint was about a streetlight, which was sorted out
in 2-3 days. The problem recurred again, but after a week, they fixed it
properly,” said Sukhjinder Singh of Hargobind Nagar.

“I
complained about three issues, out of which one was solved immediately,
but nothing has been done about the other two complaints. The problem of
illegal parking was solved, but then, it’s happening again after two
weeks, whereas the problems of parks and roads are still the same,” said
Jatinder Singh.

“This is really a good option for people who
live in far-flung areas and can’t reach MC offices every time to file
their complaints and get them solved. I filed two complaints about
sewage and garbage lying outside my residence. The garbage problem was
solved the next day, but the sewage problem still persists,” said
Joginder Singh.