Berhampur, Sept. 21: The next time there’s a dead dog rotting in front of your house or a streetlight not working, all you’ve got to do is call up 1800 345 6796.

This is the toll-free number of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation helpdesk that has been set up to address the problems of the people staying within its limits. The caller needs to register his name, address and complaint over the phone and the authorities will ensure his problem is solved at the earliest.

“We opened the toll-free number for the helpdesk on August 31. The response is slowly picking up,” said Bijay Gopal Nanda, deputy secretary of the corporation, who is in charge of the helpdesk.

Anyone can call up this number and lodge a complaint between 8am and 8pm on all days. “We have deployed two persons to receive calls, record the date, name of the complainant, contact numbers, nature of complaint and dispatch the complaints to the concerned departments for immediate action,” Nanda said.

Corporation commissioner Akshya Kumar Mahanty said: “There are certain complaints that need immediate attention. The response of the public is slowly picking up.”

“Earlier a complainant had to visit the corporation office to register a complaint or call the officer concerned over phone. But these complaints were never registered or noted down. Naturally, the process was slow. But now, it would be faster with the opening of the toll-free number help desk,” Mahanty said.

“More than 55 complaints have been registered in the past 21 days. Most of the problems were solved within two or three days,” said an official.

S.D. Patra of Naidu Sahi in Bijipur complained that streetlights in his area was not working for the past 15 days, but after registering a complaint it was fixed within two days.