Pimpri Chinchwad's Sarathi helpline clogged with 4,713 pending complaints, citizens allege false closures

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's (PCMC) Sarathi helpline was started so that citizens' complaints would be resolved quickly and properly. It is now in trouble because of administrative indifference. Across the corporation's Sarathi helpline, the Maharashtra government's Aaple Sarkar portal and the Centre's Public Grievance (PG) portal, more than 5,000 complaints are pending. Over 1,300 of them have remained unresolved for more than a month.

Sarathi was launched on August 15, 2013, as a flagship initiative of the then municipal commissioner, Dr Shrikar Pardeshi. Its aim was to get citizens' problems resolved. But complaints keep piling up, and citizens are asking whether the helpline really works.

According to figures from the corporation's information technology department, 4,713 complaints received on Sarathi were pending on October 15, 2026. Of these, 1,340 had been lying unresolved for more than 30 days. The tree conservation department has the most undecided complaints, at 738. The ward-level civil engineering department has 227 pending, and the health department 173.

Among the three additional commissioners, Vikrant Bagade has the fewest pending complaints, at seven. Additional Commissioner Trupti Sandbhor has 62, and Kuldeep Jangam has 55.

The administration's inaction is being blamed for the backlog. Citizens allege that some complaints are closed without the original problem being solved, so the same complaints keep coming back. Citizens say the focus should be on actually solving civic problems, not on registering and closing complaints.

According to figures for the past six months, the garden department has drawn the most complaints. They concern trimming of dangerous trees, removal of dried trees, repair of the poor state of public gardens, and garbage-related problems. Citizens allege that the department's slow work and the neglect of senior officials meant no firm action was taken. The garden department has emerged as the slowest department in acting on citizens' complaints.

There is strong resentment among citizens over how complaints are handled. Many allege that corporation staff do not visit the site and do not solve the problem. The complaint is only marked "closed" in the system or on paper. When citizens receive a message that the complaint is closed and go to the spot, nothing has changed. Citizens say this is misleading and shows there is no effective supervision of staff.

At a recent meeting, municipal commissioner Dr Vijay Suryawanshi is said to have expressed displeasure over the pending complaints and reprimanded some officials. Even so, little improvement is visible in the administration's work.

Under the Smart City initiative, the Smart Sarathi app and website were launched, but citizens say they do not work properly. A WhatsApp facility for Sarathi complaints was started a few months ago. It was shut down because the tender period ended. People who complain on WhatsApp are said to receive a message saying the service is unavailable for maintenance, with an apology for the inconvenience.

Assistant commissioner Amit Pandit of the corporation said: "The WhatsApp facility has been closed because the tender period has ended. But the helpline is running. Pending complaints are reviewed regularly, and the departments concerned have been instructed to resolve them. The commissioner has also given such instructions in meetings."

The position on the three platforms is as follows: 7,600 complaints were received on the Sarathi helpline, of which 4,713 are pending. On the Aaple Sarkar portal, 752 complaints were received and 117 are pending. On the PG portal, 291 complaints were received and 50 are pending.