This project presents the development of a comprehensive system aimed at addressing the waste management and complaint management issues in WSSCs (Water and Sanitation Services Companies) across KPK. The system offers an integrated platform for citizens to report various types of complaints related to garbage, sanitary issues, water supply, WSSC staff, and other relevant concerns. It facilitates the automation of the existing manual complaint system, streamlining the process and enhancing user experience.
The system's key features include a user-friendly interface for easy complaint registration, a centralized database for efficient complaint management, and communication channels between citizens and WSSC authorities. Through the system, users can select complaint types, provide detailed information, and attach media files to support their complaints. The system tracks the status of each complaint and enables notifications to keep users updated on the progress and resolution.
To ensure the effectiveness and usability of the system, extensive usability testing and evaluation have been conducted, including guerrilla usability testing with diverse users. The findings have revealed positive outcomes, demonstrating the system's ability to enhance citizen engagement, expedite complaint resolution, and contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment.
Future work includes the development of a mobile application to extend accessibility, integration with the existing WSSC infrastructure, enhanced reporting and analytics capabilities, expansion to other WSSCs, integration of advanced technologies, and community engagement programs. These efforts will further enhance the system's functionality, adaptability, and impact, providing a robust framework for efficient waste and complaint management.
People living on earth depend on nature to provide them with the resources they need to survive: air, water, food, fibre, medicines, and building materials. As humans, we are responsible for distorting the real value of nature, not only for ourselves but for future generations. Pakistan generates approximately 49.6 million tons of solid waste annually, with a 2.4 million ton increase in solid waste generated each year. In comparison to other developing countries, Pakistan has very poor waste management infrastructure, and waste is irregularly collected and improperly treated, leading to serious environmental and health problems. As a result, garbage accumulates on roadsides, in sewers, and in other public areas, and it has become commonplace to incinerate garbage, resulting in the release of dangerous toxins and threatening human and environmental health. Of the few existing landfills, even fewer are operational. Uncollected waste is creating serious public health risks by clogging drains, forming stagnant pools, providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes and flies, and leading to the risk of malaria and cholera.
Pakistan is a developing country, and the main problem with garbage collection is that most of the garbage is not collected, when municipalities take care of disaster areas, some places are overlooked, and garbage continues to pile up.
Furthermore, more than half of the people in Pakistan are facing serious sanitation problems as well. A very large percentage of people are deprived of clean water, leading to serious health conditions. There is a lack of awareness about how severe garbage and water sanitation problems can become for healthy survival. The waste and water problems persist, but the main issue lies in the lack of management in Pakistan. Management encompasses staff handling the issues and raising awareness, among other aspects.
To solve these issues, we have developed a system that allow citizens to make complaints of different types, which highlights problems faced by common citizens.
Most Pakistani cities lack effective waste management systems, from collection to disposal. Due to a shortage of disposal locations, a lot of the collected garbage ends up in dumping grounds, uncovered holes, and rivers, which sadly leads to a variety of health and water-related issues.
There can be possible situations, such as where there are some areas where collection points are not available, and in that case, people are forced to throw the garbage on roads, streets, and in the middle of the city. The second situation might be where people suffer due to the irresponsible attitude of the staff. The main aim of our project is to allow citizens to make complaints of different types regarding trash, water-related issues, and complaints related to staff, which somehow highlight the problems faced by the common man. In our country, there are different waste management apps available, but each app has different outcomes. Keeping in view the illiteracy rate in our country, our people always need a solution that is user-friendly and easy for them to tackle their problems with. The running systems could be more user-friendly and functional, which is an obstacle for different types of users to use. WSSC is a bi-country governmental agency in KP, that has a manual complaint system, the user first needs to make a call to file the complaint, and the rest of the process is also manual.
We intend to develop a system that makes it easy for the user to use and put their problems forward.
To solve the above issues, we have developed a system that aims to revolutionize the operations of all water and sanitation services companies (WSSCs) across KPK by introducing a comprehensive digital solution in the form of a Progressive Web App (PWA). Our solution encompasses various crucial aspects, including the management of complaints related to solid waste, water sanitation, miscellaneous issues, and other categories falling within the purview of WSSC's organizations. Moreover, it facilitates the effective supervision of personnel, tracking citizen feedback, and monitoring employee activities and responsibilities. This project seeks to elevate the overall performance of WSSCs, enabling them to deliver exceptional services to their respective communities.
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This system is a generic system developed for all the WSSCs.
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This system allows citizens to file various types of complaints, including those related to water supply, solid waste, wastewater, WSSC staff, miscellaneous issues, and other categories falling within the purview of WSSC organizations.
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This system provides a mode of communication between citizens and relevant WSSC organization through filing complaints, addressing, and managing them.
The main objectives of our proposed system are as follows:
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To develop a complaint management system for all WSSCS in KPK.
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To integrate with their existing systems.
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To equip citizens with a functional and convenient app to file complaint.