Next time you spot scattered garbage on streets, defunct streetlights, broken water supply pipelines or illegal construction activities, take a photo and upload it on the Apna Patna App.

Patna might not have introduced any severe measure for curbing pollution like in Delhi, which is going to introduce even-odd numbered vehicle system or temporarily prohibit registration of high-end diesel SUVs, Patna has followed the footsteps of the national capital in introducing a mobile application for ensuring spick-and-span city.

On the lines of Swachh Delhi App, residents of Patna can now use the new Apna Patna App to lodge complaints regarding solid waste management, streetlight, drinking water, sewerage, encroachment, drainage, illegal construction, development works, and get proper and effective solutions.

The App developed by National Informatics Centre, Bihar, is available on Google Play Store and it would be officially launched by urban development and housing department minister Maheshwar Hazari on Friday.

The app requires a complainant to take a picture and send it. The authorities should get the picture with the coordinates of the area from where it is uploaded. Once uploaded, the photo and its location will go to the control room and then to the officers concerned of the area. While officials would have to respond to the particular post to address the complaint, fellow residents in the same area can also give their comments and suggestions on the issue.

Patna municipal commissioner Jai Singh informed that the App would be available only on Android-based mobile phones as of now but it would be made available for other mobile operating systems including iOS (iPhone) and Windows by the end of January.

"The App is one-of-its-kind initiative taken by the municipal corporation. Residents would be able to lodge complaints regarding sanitation, streetlight, encroachment, illegal construction among other issues. We are hoping that the mobile application would help improve the functioning of the corporation," said Singh.

The municipal commissioner cautioned that residents must take the photograph related to the complaint using the App only to ensure that the correct location goes to the control room. "The phone of the user must be GPS-enabled to ensure that we get the coordinates of the place from where the photograph is taken. Once a user takes the photograph using the App, it would be automatically geo-tagged (coordinates would be embedded with the photograph). However, we would not be able to get the location of the place if the photograph is uploaded from image gallery," said Singh.

Residents would also be able to track the status of redressal of their complaint through the App.

"The officials of the area concerned would update the progress made in redressing the complaint. If the corrective action has been taken, then the complainant would find it in the 'resolved' section, otherwise it would be in the 'in- progress' section," said Singh.

The commissioner added that the App is confined only for lodging complaints as of now and it does not have the facility of payment of taxes.

"As of now, we have confined the App for complaint-lodging facility only and based on the response and feedback, we may add other services such as payment of municipal taxes in the later stages," said Singh.

With Apna Patna, the state capital has joined the league of several other cities, including Delhi (Swacch Delhi) and Bhubaneswar (My City My Pride), which have Apps for civic services.

Residents are upbeat with the launch of the new App.

"Quite often, we see garb age heaps on streets, damaged water-supply line or defunct streetlights but most people refrain from going to the office of the municipal corporation as one has to run from one table to another for lodging the complaint. Now that the App is here, we would simply take photographs from our mobile phones and upload it on the App. I hope it would lead to better civic services in the city," said Ajay Kumar, a lawyer.

Experts also hailed the App. "As mobile phones have emerged as one of the biggest tools to connect people and the administration, a mobile-based application can be a paperless alternative. The feature of tracking complaint-redressal would also ensure satisfaction for the users of the App," said a Patna-based e-commerce expert working in Noida.