GHMC's cell slack in resolving civic issues

Hyderabad: The public grievance cell at the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) head office has been receiving a large number of complaints related to civic issues and other municipal problems, but only a few issues are being addressed by the officials while the rest remain unattended.

According to the recent data, the public grievance cell at the GHMC is receiving 200 complaints in a month and the zonal offices are receiving 500 complaints. The call centre being operated from the GHMC head office is only receiving complaints from the public but not following up whether the complaint is forwarded to the concerned official.

M Satish, a resident of Kukatpally who lodged a complaint with the GHMC's grievance cell saying that roads near his residence which were dug up five months ago are still left open. He said, "I lodged a complaint with the GHMC but there is no action taken yet and there is no assurance from the grievance cell whether the complaint is lodged or not." The centre was set up during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the cases dropped, the center was directed to register public complaints related to GHMC. But currently the centre is only active for receiving complaints and not solving the issues.

Recently a report on the number of complaints and issues registered were sent to the GHMC Commissioner who would soon take action against the centre for not following up on the complaints. However, the grievance cell played an important role during the Covid-induced lockdown for awareness and providing help to Covid patients.