PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral hogged headlines on Friday after he announced that the app PWD Goa would soon be integrated to resolve issues of water pipeline leakages, speed breakers and signboards. He said people could click a photo and upload it on the app once it becomes operational so that engineers attend to them. In an era where governance uses digital tools for outreach, resolving public problems through an app is a bright idea. The problem is about adaptability and overtly relying on technology to resolve public issues, especially when a large section of the rural populace is yet to get the hang of the digital world.
Nonetheless, the PWD Goa app is a welcome initiative since it gives some options to aggrieved citizens, but departments can’t exclusively rely on people to act as sentinels. The PWD needs to have its monitoring mechanisms in place and should be alive to the situation. Take the case of the NH66 along the Pernem route, which is in pathetic condition, or the road at Dhargal, where the fatal accident triggered a law and order situation. None of these areas has been acted upon despite the horror witnessed by motorists.
The PWD Goa is a simple and easy-to-use app that allows the user to identify the location of a pothole with a Google map and write a small line of any landmark. The entry is then uploaded for the PWD to act upon. Unfortunately, there have been very few responses from the public on roads, and an insignificant number has been acted upon, especially those in remote villages of Goa.
The challenge for the PWD is to cover up the problem areas with the skeletal workforce at hand, although the State is much better off now. It would be interesting if Cabral could give a monthly report on how many complaints were received via the app and list those addressed.
Plugging water leakages through an app could be an excellent addition to the app, but again the question is about the logistics on the ground. Quick response is the key to success in case of water leakages where precious water is being wasted. On this count, the PWD must sensitise its workforce so that complaints lodged are handled on priority.
There is a certain amount of anguish over water scarcity in Cabral’s tone, and the measures announced against unplanned and illegal structures consuming water are well-intentioned. But with illegal structures and structures without setbacks mushrooming all over Goa, the PWD will have a mountain to climb. Plugging water leakages can be successful if there is a solid resolve to bulldoze through illegalities, irrespective of the political influences attached to them. Also, the minister would have to set his department in order first. Currently, the line workers contracted by the PWD are running a scam extorting money from ordinary citizens above the fees paid to the department. Junior engineers have been playing a blind eye to this blatant corruption which has been going on for years. Perhaps, registering a complaint through the app could be a significant addition.
Nonetheless, since a beginning is made, the PWD must take it forward and create awareness. Local bodies should be tasked to inform and educate constituents. The PWD can measure the success of this initiative only through the number of inputs it gets.
