Non-functioning
streetlights across the urban local bodies (ULBs) have turned out to be
the most annoying issue for the city dwellers. A majority of the
grievances reported to the local bodies through call centres or directly
to the municipal administration department using the integrated web
portal and the mobile application were about them.

According to
the reports on the Municipal Administration Grievance Dashboard, the
department received 63,273 complaints from the ULBs in the 13 districts
from January 1 to Wednesday (August 2) and 96% of the complaints had
been solved. Of the grievances reported in the last seven months, 11,585
were about streetlights. Most of the traditional streetlights had been
replaced with LED bulbs across the State as part of the energy saving
initiative.

Poor drainage system, dumping of debris and garbage on
public places also turned troublesome for the public. About 9,000
complaints each had been reported during the last seven months.
Regarding garbage, 5,129 complaints were made. Next on the list were
poor drinking water, the absence of sanitation staff and overflowing
underground drainages. The reports revealed that half the problems
reported were from just four districts — East Godavari, Kadapa, Kurnool
and West Godavari — indicating that most of the problems were occurring
at the ULBs other than municipal corporations.

In East Godavari
alone, 10,098 complaints had been reported so far this year. In the last
one month, the majority of the 8,467 complaints were over streetlights
followed by open drains, UGD and drinking water. However, only 81% of
the complaints had been resolved so far. On Wednesday, about 171
complaints had been received.