A report released by the Praja Foundation on issues pertaining to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, shows that the number of complaints filed by citizens rose by 20.2 per cent in 2015-2016 compared to a drop of 15.7 per cent in the previous year. While the number of estate-related complaints has gone up by four times, there was a significant rise in complaints relating to toilets run by the civic body. According to the data, close to 80,490 complaints were registered in 2014, 67,835 in 2015 and 81,555 in 2016 and there was a rise in the number of complaints on a majority of the issues. While an increase of 82.4 per cent was recorded in toilet-related complaints, there was a rise of 63 per cent in pollution-related complaints. Over three years, the lowest number was recorded in the area of water supply. A significant increase of 40.6 per cent was noted in the number of complaints in issues pertaining to the solid waste management department. While there was a rise of 32.4 per cent in entries where residents complained about garbage not being collected from homes, markets and roads, between 2015-2016, there were twice the number of complaints about lack of attention to collection points across the city. In complaints pertaining to the city’s drainage system, there was an increase of 28.8 per cent on blockages of drains. Despite the poor condition of the roads during the monsoon months last year, there was a marginal drop of 0.9 per cent in road related complaints. According to the data on the status of action taken on complaints, out of the total number of complaints registered action has not been taken on 21 per cent of the complaints. The report also stated that maximum action was taken on complaints related to pest control and those about the medical health officer. Ward-wise analysis of the data shows that majority of the complaints have been registered in L ward (including areas like Kurla) and action has been taken on 53 per cent of the complaints. The report noted that the least amount of action was taken in L ward and least number of complaints were closed. The highest success rate was noted in F north ward where 92 per cent of the complaints were closed.
