Using the Right to Information Act to follow a road, drain or park work

The Right to Information Act, 2005, gives citizens a way to inspect the papers behind a civic work. It is not a substitute for reporting a pothole. First file the complaint with the department that must act. Then use RTI if the work is delayed, repeated every monsoon, or listed in a budget but invisible on the ground.

Public authorities include municipal corporations, municipalities, development authorities, water boards and, in most cases, electricity distribution companies that are public utilities. Each has a Public Information Officer. Many publish the PIO’s name and email on their website. If they do not, the State Information Commission site usually lists them.

A good RTI application asks for copies of existing records. Poor applications ask “why has the corporation failed the people of Ward 14?” That invites a vague reply. Better questions are specific: the sanctioned estimate for restoration of X road between two landmarks; the tender notice and work order number; the name of the contractor; the date of commencement and stipulated date of completion; running account bills paid so far; and any extension of time granted.

You may also ask for the ward-wise list of works sanctioned in the current year and last year, and for utilisation certificates submitted to the State Government for a named scheme. If the city claims a drain was desilted last month, ask for the measurement book extract or the contractor’s bill for that beat. Either the papers exist, or the claim is weak.

Keep the request to a few items. Ten precise points are better than forty. Pay the prescribed fee. File online where the state has a portal, or by speed post with an acknowledgement. Note the date. The Act generally requires a response in thirty days, with a slightly longer period if another office must be consulted.

If you receive estimates and a work order, compare them with the street. A work order for 200 metres of resurfacing should leave a visible stretch. If you receive a reply that the information is not available, that is itself useful. First appeals go to the First Appellate Authority in the same body. Second appeals go to the State Information Commission.

Do not publish contractors’ personal mobile numbers or employees’ home addresses if they appear in the file. Stick to the work. Attach the RTI reply, minus personal data, when you escalate the original civic complaint. The combination of a tracking ID, photographs, and the city’s own estimate is a strong public file.

RTI is not a weapon for harassment. Frivolous bulk applications slow down genuine ones. Use it when a named civic work affects safety, flooding, or repeated waste of public money. CivicConnect can carry the first complaint to the desk. RTI tells you whether that desk ever opened a work file.