Lucknow: Smart City one-stop centre in sloth mode

LUCKNOW: A single-window system for information, documentation and grievance redress, which was rolled out to citizens through the Smart City application a month ago, is yet to function in a full-fledged manner.


Of the total eight services promised at this ‘command and control centre’ coordinated by Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), only three have been launched till date while the rest are expected to be on offer in a staggered manner by the end of October.

Residents can currently report civic problems directly related to LMC such as poor garbage management or choked drains. The facility to register grievances about electricity, water and traffic management is still not available. They can seek birth and death certificates, but services like information on parking space and ATMs, assessment of property and income taxes (and complaints thereof), and issuance of caste certificates are pending.

In the civic gripe section, more than 1,700 complaints on unattended garbage, stray animals and waterlogging, among others, have been lodged in a month. According to officials, 1,150 of these problems have been resolved within stipulated time. The others will be resolved before their respective deadlines too, the officials said.

Complainants, on the other hand, have mixed reactions to the single-window system.

Manav Jaiswal of Aishbagh said his complaint regarding a choked drain was addressed within six hours. “Earlier, the LMC used to take several days to act. In comparison, the problem was resolved in a jiffy this time. The centre even called to inform that the job had been done,” he added.

Anurag Singh of Alambagh, who had filed a complaint about dirty water supply, is disappointed though. “My grievance has not been attended to. I have been told the service is yet to be integrated. Shouldn’t the authorities have launched the centre after integrating all the promised services?” he said.

Additional municipal commissioner Amit Singh said the private company hired to start and manage all the services was working on the Smart City application. “The delay has been caused by a technical snag in the app. All services will be started by the end of next month,” Singh added.