Ever wondered which ward you fall under? The newly-launched What Ward app will tell you exactly that. Launched by the Chennai Tricolor Initiative, the app is a simple way of knowing your ward and the details of your ward officials.
Speaking to TNM, Fazil Badrudeen of the Chennai Tricolor Initiative says, “The primary agenda of the app is to tell you your ward based on the location. Wherever you are, you can check the location of the ward. Even if you are facing issues in a place you're visiting in the city, the app will tell you which ward the locality falls under and you can raise it with the officials in the area.”
The app will also provide emergency contacts related to the ward for civic issues such as potholes and power cuts.
In addition to this, the app also gives people the option to join a ward-level WhatsApp group.
“The purpose of the WhatsApp group is for people living in the ward to get to know each other as well as share pictures of civic issues in the area,” adds Fazil. This, he hopes, would help the volunteers of the initiative present their grievances to the local ward councillor and the corporation.
Allaying fears about privacy, Fazil said that the location-related data is not stored on its servers.
What about an advertising model? “The What Ward app will not be advertising either, at least in the foreseeable future,” he says.
The initiative also hopes to take the app a step further by approaching ward-level councillors to join the app and keep an active tab on issues in their council.
“We have also mooted the idea to the corporation and hope to work together with them to solve people’s issues at the ward level,” says Fazil.
While the app is only available on Android right now, the iOS version is expected to be launched within a fortnight.