eJustice

Nowadays, there is an app for everything, even for reporting pollution. eJustice is an app developed by the Centre for Environmental Justice, an NGO whose focus is advocating for environmental justice and equity in Sri Lanka, where concerned citizens can report instances of intentional pollution directly to the police for investigation. The app came out in October of 2019 for androids and Apple devices and was announced with little publicity since the app was essentially being piloted with Sri Lanka’s western district of Colombo and the local police department. Colombo is the target for the initial rollout because the Kelanimulla wetlands contained within the region play an important role in urban flood control. It has also seen a dramatic rise in illegal garbage dumping in recent years, which is of course detrimental to the health of the wetland but is also increasingly frustrating for local residents fed up with seeing garbage pile up in the last remaining wetland in Colombo. The app allows citizens to upload four geotagged pictures of garbage they see being dumped and provide a brief description of the issue, time, and personal contact information. The app then sends a report to the police station, where it is verified. From there, not only can police begin looking into the issue, but the pictures are posted on the social forum on the app, where other people who have seen the garbage or the people who dumped illegally can post comments or other pictures. It isn’t clear how privacy is protected on the app, or if there is an accompanying effort to physically remove the garage, but it is still an innovative approach to holding polluters accountable. Though primarily for residents in Colombo at the present, the app is expected to become more widely used throughout Sri Lanka in the coming years.

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