Bhubaneswar: The smart city authorities launched a toll free helpline on Wednesday to ease redress of civic or urban issues.

The Bhubanewar One Helpline Number - 1800-345-0061 - will work 24x7 and take grievances from the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Capital Region Urban Transport and the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) itself. An alternative landline number - 0674-2548295 - has also been introduced.

Citizens can call the number and lodge grievances related to garbage lifting, drain cleaning, street light problems, building plan approval, issues related to city bus services and any other related to the smart city projects. The callers will have to give basic details using which officials will address the problems.

The Bhubaneswar Operation Centre that was inaugurated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik also became operational with the launch of the helpline. The calls will be attended by operators of the centre, which will then be transferred to agencies concerned.

"It is the first 24x7 helpline has been introduced for citizens. The operators will attend the calls and refer the grievances to respective agencies. Four agencies have been included as of now. We will add other agencies such as Pheo and the sewerage board in later phases," said BSCL managing director Krishan Kumar.

Kumar also said the other helpline numbers that are working at present will be closed after July 30. "We will come up with plans to improve infrastructure to attend more calls during any event."

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, who was also present during the helpline launch, said this was another smart initiative and urged the people to use it extensively.

Residents, however, were sceptical about its prospects. "There are thousands of people with thousands of complaints. One helpline will not suffice," said Unit-II resident Pratyush Mohanty.