Varanasi: The Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) has drawn up a comprehensive action plan to strengthen cleanliness and civic services in the city from Sep 17, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s birthday. As part of the initiative, the civic body will distribute four lakh dustbins free of cost to two lakh households and expand its technology-driven quick grievance redressal system to 50 wards, aiming to resolve civic complaints within four hours.Inspired by the Prime Minister, who gave a new message of cleanliness to the country from Kashi in 2014, the VMC will distribute four lakh dustbins free of cost to two lakh household owners in the city. Each family will receive two dustbins—one green and one blue—to ensure separate collection of wet and dry waste from every household.The green dustbin will be used for wet waste such as fruits, vegetables, leaves, peels and leftover food. The blue dustbin will be used for dry waste such as plastic bottles, chips packets, slippers, paper and glass. The initiative aims to make waste segregation easier and encourage citizens to keep the city clean.Municipal authorities said that, along with the cleanliness campaign, the VMC is also expanding its system for the quick resolution of basic civic problems. The “Quick Solution Smart Pilot Project”, launched on July 21 in 25 wards along the Ganga riverfront, will be extended in its second phase from September 17. Under this expansion, 25 more wards will be added, taking the total coverage to 50 wards.In these 50 wards, 14 major issues related to six departments will be resolved within a maximum of four hours. To make the system transparent and technology-driven, a WhatsApp chatbot has been introduced. Citizens can register complaints directly on WhatsApp number 8601872601.Once a message is sent, the system automatically matches the complaint with the master database and forwards it to the responsible officer of the concerned area through a mobile app, along with a live photo and GPS location. After registration, the citizen receives a ticket ID.The assigned officer then visits the spot, resolves the issue and uploads a photo through the departmental app. The app automatically locks the current GPS coordinates and time with the photo. Once the backend system verifies the resolution, the complaint status changes from pending to closed, and the citizen is immediately informed.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the inspiration of cleanliness to the entire country from Kashi. On his birthday, we are not only promoting cleanliness by distributing four lakh dustbins in the city, but also expanding the quick-resolution system to 50 wards. Our goal is to ensure the resolution of civic problems within four hours,” said Varanasi Mayor Ashok Kumar Tiwari.
