Sameer app dysfunctional, complaints go unattended
Hyderabad: Ninety-six complaints registered on the Sameer app remain unresolved in Hyderabad, raising concerns over the effectiveness of the pollution-monitoring platform outside the National Capital Region (NCR). The app, developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), was designed primarily for monitoring air quality and handling pollution-related complaints. In Hyderabad, citizens who reported issues raning from air and water pollution to illegal dumping are still waiting for action. According to a senior CPCB official, the app was initially created for the NCR, which includes Delhi and its neighboring cities such as Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Meerut. Given the severe pollution levels in these areas, the app was integrated with 47 agencies in Delhi. However, such integration has not been extended to other states. In states like Telangana, complaints filed on the Sameer app are forwarded through emails to the respective State Pollution Control Boards. If officials fail to check their emails regularly, complaints may go unnoticed and unresolved. In Hyderabad, the app does not direct the complaints to local pollution control agencies. “We cannot integrate the entire country into one app,” a CPCB official told Deccan Chronicle. He added that states have been advised to develop their own complaint management systems to handle pollution-related grievances efficiently. “Now we can clearly see how the government is actually working. If citizens are left to handle these issues on their own, then what is the point of having a separate department from the government for monitoring pollution? It is their responsibility to address these concerns, yet nothing is being done.” said Navya Raj, a homemaker from the city. Multiple attempts from this correspondent to reach the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) for a response have gone unanswered. One complaint read in Sameer app “Untreated sewage is let into Trimulgherry Lake by Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) and polluting the lake. Telangana Pollution Control board had served notice on 18th April 2018 and no show cause notice served from 2018. No action was taken by TSPCB against the SCB & GHMC MRO inspected & reported open defecation and dumping of garbage around the lake.” “Despite multiple follow-ups with EE, hesitating to serve show cause notice & SCB officials least bothered to divert sewage Multiple newspapers published articles on Trimulgherry Lake, we are tweeting TSPCB and sending emails requesting to serve show cause notice to SCB and GHMC but not serving show cause notice and not responding to our emails, Tweets etc. TSPCB should initiate serious action against the SCB to prevent untreated sewage not letting into the lake,” the complaint said. Another complaint said “We are getting a huge bad unhealthy smell at night due to factory emissions. The area where we reside is near the GMR convention center. Please investigate. PIN: 502319.” “They are burning garbage which has a lot of plastic. And they continue to do so even after telling,” another complaint said. Typically, there has been no response.
Hyderabad: Ninety-six complaints registered on the Sameer app remain unresolved in Hyderabad, raising concerns over the effectiveness of the pollution-monitoring platform outside the National Capital Region (NCR).
The app, developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), was designed primarily for monitoring air quality and handling pollution-related complaints. In Hyderabad, citizens who reported issues raning from air and water pollution to illegal dumping are still waiting for action.
According to a senior CPCB official, the app was initially created for the NCR, which includes Delhi and its neighboring cities such as Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Meerut. Given the severe pollution levels in these areas, the app was integrated with 47 agencies in Delhi.
However, such integration has not been extended to other states.
In states like Telangana, complaints filed on the Sameer app are forwarded through emails to the respective State Pollution Control Boards. If officials fail to check their emails regularly, complaints may go unnoticed and unresolved.
In Hyderabad, the app does not direct the complaints to local pollution control agencies. “We cannot integrate the entire country into one app,” a CPCB official told Deccan Chronicle. He added that states have been advised to develop their own complaint management systems to handle pollution-related grievances efficiently.
“Now we can clearly see how the government is actually working. If citizens are left to handle these issues on their own, then what is the point of having a separate department from the government for monitoring pollution? It is their responsibility to address these concerns, yet nothing is being done.” said Navya Raj, a homemaker from the city.
Multiple attempts from this correspondent to reach the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) for a response have gone unanswered.
One complaint read in Sameer app “Untreated sewage is let into Trimulgherry Lake by Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) and polluting the lake. Telangana Pollution Control board had served notice on 18th April 2018 and no show cause notice served from 2018. No action was taken by TSPCB against the SCB & GHMC MRO inspected & reported open defecation and dumping of garbage around the lake.”
“Despite multiple follow-ups with EE, hesitating to serve show cause notice & SCB officials least bothered to divert sewage Multiple newspapers published articles on Trimulgherry Lake, we are tweeting TSPCB and sending emails requesting to serve show cause notice to SCB and GHMC but not serving show cause notice and not responding to our emails, Tweets etc. TSPCB should initiate serious action against the SCB to prevent untreated sewage not letting into the lake,” the complaint said.
Another complaint said “We are getting a huge bad unhealthy smell at night due to factory emissions. The area where we reside is near the GMR convention center. Please investigate. PIN: 502319.”
“They are burning garbage which has a lot of plastic. And they continue to do so even after telling,” another complaint said. Typically, there has been no response.
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