Mumbai: A 28-year-old Mumbaikar is using social media in the best possible way by getting the administrative agencies solve multiple civic issues of the city. Jeet Mashru, a documentary and video producer by profession has a knack of making small yet significant change in the city. Seven years back, when Mashru graduated from college, he realised that it's not only the administration who is responsible for solving the civic issues, but citizens need to be vigilant as well.
Jeet Mashru |
Since then there has been no looking back, right from filling potholes to electrifying a dark alley with street lights, Mashru has lightened many woes off Mumbaikar's shoulders by using social media in a smarter way.
“Getting things done in social media is both easy and challenging, as it's an open forum,” says Mashru. One of his greatest achievement is solving the pothole menace at Western Express Highway (WEH) in Dahisar near Gokul Hotel.
He recalls that every day it would take at least half an hour to cross the Dahisar bridge, so one day he took some pictures and shared it on Twitter, within 24 hours the MMRDA authorities took cognizance of the issue and initiated patchwork.
“There used to be road accidents frequently as motorists would lose balance due to the potholes,” Mashru stated. “The most important part is not tweeting or posting about the issue, its about following up regularly with the agencies unless they solve the issue,” he added.
Mashru states, his responsibility doesn't end after posting the issue in social media rather it starts from there. “I follow up with the agencies regularly unless they solve the problem,” Mashru asserts.
“The officials also have their limitations and we just can't keep on blaming them, there's a balance that needs to be maintained,” he stated.
Presently, he works closely with a Mumbai based non-profit body – Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF), a platform for redressing public grievances. As part of which he points out and solves social problems regularly.
“Mumbai is a fast city and people are too busy to find time for these issues, but there needs to be someone who needs to take care of these issues because in the end, this is what we call our home,” stated Mashru.
