Remember the Swachh Delhi App? Well, Mr Kejriwal Doesn’t

Does the AAP’s Swachh Delhi app work? We tested it. Here’s what we found.

The AAP launched the Swachh Delhi app in 2015. Does it work? (Photo: The Quint)

In the run up to elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi chief Arvind Kejriwal has been making a number of appeals for votes on the radio.

In his trademark tone, Kejriwal can be heard lamenting that the National Capital has been taken over by vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya. He then proceeds to blame the BJP-ruled MCD for the piles of garbage in and around the city that have earned Delhi a poor reputation. The AAP will make Delhi spick and span, he promises voters towards the end of the commercial.

Even as Kejriwal places the blame squarely on the MCD, he seems to have forgotten a certain mobile application launched by his government in 2015.

The AAP’s ‘Swachh Delhi’ app was touted to be a platform that would let residents complain about their unclean surroundings. The Kejriwal-led government promised it would then act on these complaints and clean up the problem areas as soon as possible.

The app comes with a built-in camera software that allows users to report the dumping of garbage, construction waste and even metal waste within the Delhi government’s jurisdiction. Upon uploading a photograph, Swachh Delhi generates a unique ID and also allows users to track complaints on the app itself.

In order to see whether the app really works, The Quint visited a number of locations in the national capital on 14 April. We uploaded photos of the piles garbage we spotted on the app. One week later, we visited the locations again, to check if anything had changed. Here’s what we found:

This picture of garbage dumped in the open was taken on 14/04/17 in lane number two of Kirti Nagar in east Delhi. When The Quint revisited the site on 21/04/2017, the garbage was still not cleaned.

The parking lot behind Kalkaji Mandir remains decked with garbage of all forms. Here too, no action was taken.

Construction waste dumped on a pavement near Inderlok Metro Station. It was not cleaned as of 21/04/2017.

Garbage strewn out in the open on one side of Patparganj road in Mayur Vihar Phase i. Despite an entry in the app, the garbage was not cleaned as of 21/04/17.

Tonnes of plastic bags, perishable garbage continue to be dumped on the flanks of SK Singh Marg in North Campus. (Picture taken on 21/04/17)

The app promised that registered complaints would be forwarded to relevant officials of the Delhi government. These officials, in turn, are expected to address all such complaints in a short span of time, following which the app will send a text message on the registered mobile number.

However, The Quint didn’t receive a single text message on any of the complaints. What’s more, this comes days after the Aam Aadmi Party released an eight-page manifesto in which it promised to transform Delhi into a clean city that is free of dengue and chikungunya. Time for a reality check, AAP.

Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam