Poor roads? Send complaint via app in Chhattisgarh

Complainant can take picture of damaged road and send it to department for follow-up action

Experiencing bumpy drive in Chhattisgarh and want to report it? Well, one would soon be able to do it through a smartphone application (app).

State's public works department (PWD) would be creating a smartphone app to enable public to lodge complaints on road and infrastructural problems. The complainant could take photograph of the damaged roads and send it to the department– via the app – for follow-up action.

“The app would be launched in May,” Chhattisgarh’s PWD minister Rajesh Munat said. The required budgetary provision had been made in the department for the financial year 2017-18, he said, adding that the department would resolve the complaint within 15 days after receiving it through the app.

A state-level control room would be set up for the smooth working of the system. The control room would receive the photograph along with the details of the area and a map of the spot. The feed would be sent to the authority concerned in the department for further action.

The state government had taken up a massive road expansion programme. It had aimed to connect all the 146 block headquarters in the state via two-lane road.

In Chhattisgarh Budget 2017-18, the allocation for capital outlay on roads and bridges is 8.9 per cent higher than the budget estimates of 2016-17. In 2016-17, there was an increase of 24.5 per cent over the previous year. Rs 435 crore has been allocated for the construction of bridges.

In addition, a four-lane road connecting Raipur Railway Station to the Airport would be constructed by abandoning the narrow gauge rail-line. A provision of Rs 295.87 crore had been made in the Budget.