Bad roads topped citizens complaint list in 2011-12: Report

Complaints regarding drainage showed a 58.7 per cent increase. This was followed by complaints on solid waste management,which showed only a 1.1 per cent increase. There was a drop of 0.3 per cent in the number of complaints about water supply.

“The increase in road related complaints is primarily due to BMC’s new system through which citizens can take pictures of roads and send it to civic body. This emphasises the need for a technologically advanced,centralised,user-friendly and effective complaint redressal mechanism in the city,” said Nitai Mehta,managing trustee of Praja Foundation.

Corporators,on the other hand,seem to find the matter of renaming roads and chowks more important. According to the report,out of 672 questions asked in ward committee meetings in the same period,the maximum have been regarding renaming or naming of roads. These are followed by 100 questions on road conditions and 47 on water supply,the report said.

“Over 19 per cent of questions asked are regarding renaming of roads. One wonders if our elected representatives are mocking the democratic system or taking constituencies for granted,perhaps for a ride,” Mehta said.