BALURGHAT: In a major push towards digital governance, the Balurghat Municipality has decided to introduce an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based system to streamline civic services and ensure faster redressal of public grievances.
The decision was taken at the first board meeting held on Thursday after Surajit Saha assumed charge as Chairman of the civic body. At the meeting, a resolution was passed to digitise the
complaint mechanism, replacing the existing practice of submitting written grievances at the municipal office.
As part of the new initiative, a special digital screen will be installed at the municipal building. Residents will be able to stand in front of the screen and verbally report civic issues such as damaged roads, clogged drains, or unfilled potholes. The complaints will be directly recorded and forwarded to the authorities concerned. The AI-enabled system will continue to send reminders to officials until the reported issue is resolved, ensuring accountability.
Significant decisions were also taken to strengthen sanitation measures in the town. To identify those who litter on roads, CCTV cameras will be installed in all 25 wards, with 20 cameras in each ward. Moreover, garbage collection vehicles will use alarm sounds instead of whistles, following complaints that the whistle sound was often inaudible and not consistently used. Speaking after the meeting, Chairman Surajit Saha said, “We will utilise AI technology for grievance redressal and put strong emphasis on improving sanitation. Steps have also been taken to renovate the municipal swimming pool and event halls to increase revenue generation.”