With the COVID-19 crisis escalating in India, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' Swachhata app is now allowing people to report any violations of quarantine and lockdown, along with suspected COVID-19 cases. People can also report others for not wearing a mask in 'hotspot' areas, for breaking social distancing norms, and for unregulated disposal of COVID-19 waste. The app is available on both Android and iOS. The app has over 17 million users, who can also request fogging/sanitation, medicine, food, shelter, transport for COVID-19 patients, and waste pick-up from quarantined areas. Requests for food, shelter, medicine, transport will be forwarded to the concerned agency, shop, vendor, or NGO and the citizen will be informed, and will be followed up and monitored for final disposal. The revised app was launched by MoHUA secretary Durga Shanker Mishra yesterday via a video conference on COVID-19 with all states, union territories, and cities. Swachh Bharat state mission directors and urban local body representatives were also present at the video conference. The pilot version of the revised app was shared with select states and cities, and has been launched after their feedback. Launched in 2014, the Swachhata app is a municipality services app covering areas falling under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). It accepts reports and complaints of open manholes, construction debris, stagnant water, etc., which are then handled by the urban local bodies, such as municipal corporations. The app is available in 8 Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Tamil. All complaints…
