Mumbai: It’s piling garbage for the BMC

In the last 16 days, the BMC received 1,637 complaints related to garbage

With the BMC's new helpline number receiving an average of 146 complaints related to piling of garbage daily, the civic body has now decided to investigate why they are receiving more complaints in certain wards.

The BMC started a WhatApp helpline (8169681697) on June 7, to register complaints related to garbage and debris. In the last 16 days, from June 7 to 23, the BMC received 1,637 complaints related to garbage, and 694 complaints of piling of debris. On an average, it receives 146 complaints daily.

After a complaint is received on the WhatsApp chatbot, it is forwarded to officials concerned at the ward level. The official looks into it and after resolving it, a photograph of the completed task is sent to the central department. "Some of the complaints are from private premises and a few from the same areas. We are now looking into the causes of the complaints, so that it will not occur repeatedly," said an official from the SWM department.

Out of the 1,637 complaints received, 155 were from Kurla, 137 from Wadala and Sion, 127 from Bhandup, 119 from Andheri West and Jogeshwari West. Out of 694 debris complaints, 76 were from Andheri West and Jogeshwari West, 71 from Bhandup and 60 were from Wadala and Sion.

Perennial problem

According to information based on an RTI query by Praja Foundation, out of the 1.04 lakh complaints received through the BMC's central complaining registration system in 2022, 12,351 complaints were received for solid waste management issues, mainly regarding garbage not being lifted. Over the past decade, the civic body has received an average of one lakh complaints every year and the highest number of complaints were related to solid waste management (1,02,149) in the last 10 years.