Can the Swachh Delhi app be the solution to Delhi’s garbage woes?

With nearly 43,000 complaints registered, the Delhi government’s Swachh Delhi campaign came to an end yesterday. The campaign was aimed at ridding Delhi of garbage and construction waste (malba) using an app, Swachh Delhi.

Reports of technical glitches and low redress rates marring the initiative came out in The Hindu, The Times of India and so on within days of the app going live. But Sandeep Mishra, additional secretary, Department of Urban Development, Delhi, who is in charge of the app, believes the digital initiative could present a long-term solution to Delhi’s garbage problems.

According to official data from the department, out of the 43,000 complaints received, over 24,000 have been completed.

So, how sustainable is the digital drive to clean Delhi? First, how exactly does the app work? 

The app essentially allows the Delhi government to assign complaints to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) – which is further trifurcated into MCD East, MCD South and MCD North – the Public Works Department (PWD), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Delhi Cantonment Board. Which means the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government and the BJP-run MCD will have to work in tandem. The prospect of that doesn’t seem bright given the war of words that ensued in June this year, when MCD workers went on a strike, and the corporations blamed the AAP government for not releasing their salaries. In August this year, BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Subhash Arya blamed AAP for Delhi finishing 398^th in the Swachh Bharat rankings.

A senior official at the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, though, had praise for the initiative. “App toh bahut acha hai. Kaafi mehnat gayi hai ismein [the app is very good. A lot of hard work has gone into it]. We have managed to lift 15-20 per cent more garbage in the past few days because of the app,” he said.

Gopal Mohan, adviser to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the man in charge of monitoring the server of the Swachh Delhi app, also seems optimistic about making it work with MCD. “The whole yeh BJP ka hai, yeh Congress ka hai, yeh AAP ka hai sentiment has to be put aside for this to work [you have to look beyond the sentiment that the drive belongs to either AAP, BJP or Congress]. It’s true that we cannot directly involve ourselves in the working of the MCD because it’s not under us. Rajneeti ko side mein rakhna hai bas [we have to keep politics aside],” said Mohan.

So with the AAP and MCD working out their relationship issues, can we hope to see the app becoming a regular feature? Not before the app is subjected to some major fine-tuning. As cited by newspaper reports, the app not only suffers from a low redressal rate but also technical glitches.

For instance, 5,000 complaints were registered under the same phone number. “We face technological glitches everyday, and we have a backend IT team that resolves them on an immediate basis,” Mohan affirms.  While the IT team may be working overtime as claimed by Mohan, the app still has far too many technical issues to be anywhere even near a robust solution to the city’s garbage problems.

The SDMC has sent a file with suggestions to improve the app. It mentions, for example, that some complaints pertaining to other departments need to be returned. Though the app allows you to return the complaint, it should also provide a window explaining why a particular complaint has been returned. Another thing that needs to be worked upon is an SMS resend option in case an SMS is lost or deleted.

So, what happens now, after this nine-day drive is over? “Our aim is to finish whatever we get till the 30^th. Even after the 30^th, you can keep sending grievances, however, there will no stipulated deadline within which the garbage or malba will be cleared.”

Does this mean, one can keep sending complaints, without any accountability on the other side?

A sum of Rs 96 crore has already been pumped into the project, which Mohan said, has been divided between the municipalities. The Delhi government is also open to involving private players if the existing staff is not sufficient to complete the task within the given timeframe. “Talks with them are already on,” he added.

While the app seeks to increase accountability, and cooperation between the Delhi government and the municipal agencies, can it lead to a paradigm change in the way in which the garbage woes of the city are dealt with? Delhi generates over 1,500 tonnes of waste every day. Add to that the complicated structure of the municipal corporations that are currently under the BJP, and the blame game that ensues every time there is an issue relating to garbage disposal. As of Monday, more than 19,000 complaints are yet to be resolved.

“This app is a start to something bigger we are planning for next year. We are in the process of decentralising power to the common man and making them directly accountable. Dilli ko desh se alag karne waali cheez aa rahi hai [we’re working on something that will differentiate Delhi from the rest of the country],” Mohan said.

Mohan’s assertions are grand, much like the party he represents. Will Delhi’s ambitious technology-driven cleanliness campaign move beyond being another Swachh Bharat? Tell us what you think. Have you used the app? Did it meet your expectations? Send us your feedback on the app and whether it helped clean your area to contact@newslaundry.com and we’ll try and audit the Swacch Delhi app.