Every city has a complaint box, helpline, website or app. Yet for many citizens, the real question is not whether they can complain, but whether anyone is actually listening.

Across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), residents regularly raise concerns about potholes, overflowing drains, traffic congestion, illegal parking, garbage accumulation, broken streetlights and unsafe footpaths. Some complaints are addressed quickly, but many remain unresolved for weeks or months. In several cases, citizens are forced to repeatedly approach different departments before seeing any action.

This creates frustration and, more importantly, weakens public trust. A civic complaint should not become a citizen’s full-time responsibility. Once an issue is reported, the concerned authority should acknowledge it, identify the department responsible, and provide a reasonable timeline for action.

Technology can help. Online grievance systems can allow residents to track complaints from registration to resolution. But simply having an app or portal is not enough. Authorities must ensure that complaints are actually verified and closed only after the problem has been resolved.

There is also a need for greater accountability. If a dangerous pothole is reported repeatedly and remains unattended, citizens deserve to know why. Similarly, recurring flooding or traffic problems require permanent solutions rather than temporary measures after public pressure.

Citizens, too, have a role. Complaints should be specific, factual, and supported by photographs or other evidence where possible. Residents’ associations and local groups can help authorities identify larger patterns rather than isolated problems.

Good governance is not measured only by major infrastructure projects. It is also reflected in how quickly a broken streetlight is repaired, how seriously a drainage complaint is treated and whether an ordinary citizen receives a response.

Listening to citizens is the first step. Acting on what they say is what builds trust.