Days after the “Swachh App” was launched by AAP-ruled Delhi government and BJP-ruled Municipal Corporations to clean the city, both agencies may enter in a fresh tussle over its mechanism as the latter have blamed lack of assistance from the government side. The civic agencies have claimed that even after 72 hours of the app being launched and receiving more than 5,000 complaints about garbage lying in the city, no fool-proof plan has been made so far.
The agencies have also claimed that a complainant needs a GPS-enabled android phone to register the complaint while there is no surety that he/she would have an android phone. Additionally, in order to file the complaint, the complainant has to download the “Swachh App” first.
Subhash Arya, SDMC Mayor, said despite launching the drive, no development has taken place so far. The app has a lot of faults due to which the Corporations are unable to address the majority of complaints. As it requires proper mechanism, the government must look into this, they claimed.
“Though we have been receiving complaints but there is no clarity about the location from where the complaint is being registered, which is necessary for the problem to be addressed. The agency, which is forwarding complaints on behalf of the government, is yet to mention whether the complaint is related to garbage or solid waste. If the area falls under an unauthorised colony, it must be mentioned as the government has to collect garbage and debris from such places,” said Arya.
Ravinder Gupta, Mayor of North Corporation, too claimed the lack of cooperation from the government while executing the programme. He said despite its high-profile launch, no further communication has been made to run it properly. The government is forwarding pictures with little details with agencies requiring more information to address their complaints. “Earlier, it was said that PWD, a government department, will collect solid waste, debris but it was not revealed that how the department will execute the same. The authorities have limited resources and cannot manage the entire affair without support,” Gupta said.
Notably, the Delhi government and civic bodies, in order to clean the city, had earlier settled their long fight after the intervention of the Union Ministry for Urban Development with the former agreeing to clean all debris/solid waste while the civic bodies agreed to collect garbage. “It has been decided that the PWD of the Delhi government will clean all the debris in the entire city while MCDs, NDMC and the Delhi Cantonment Board will clear the garbage in their respective territorial jurisdictions,” Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had said earlier while launching the app with the three Mayors.