The public will have to use WhatsApp to geo-tag their location while lodging a complaint.
For most people, a beach vacation in India is incomplete without a visit to one of the many incredible beaches in Goa. But as is the case for most popular tourist destinations, it has attracted its fair share of tourists who litter the beautiful sites.
However, with the help of conscientious tourists, residents and WhatsApp, the state government of Goa is hoping to address the problem of waste management head-on. To that end, they will soon be introducing a number that people can use to lodge complaints about specific sites on the beach that have been littered.
Once a complaint is lodged via WhatsApp, the officials monitoring the service will then dispatch a crew to immediately clean up the site.
Image for representation. Photo source: Wikimedia
According to the ministry of tourism, authorities will be looking at addressing all complaints within 24 hours of them having been lodged. In order for a complaint to be processed, the complainant will have to tag the area by sending across the location’s GPS coordinates through WhatsApp (a feature that is available in the popular messaging service).
Tourism minister Manohar Azgaonkar spoke to the Hindustan Times about the initiative noting that the government is looking at this as a temporary move to urgently clean up the state. He said, “We want people to come and appreciate the beauty of the state. This process will be both convenient and helpful in keeping a watch that the complaints are solved by the contractor.”
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The numbers that will be dedicated to the service will be soon announced by the government and it is among the many initiatives the government has planned in order to keep the state and its beaches pristine and beautiful.
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