After facing flak for the inconvenience caused to Mumbaiites owing to the construction of Metro lines, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has turned to social media sites to interact with citizens.

It has appointed an agency to handle its social media outreach to address concerns from locals. Other agencies like the Mumbai Police and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are already on Twitter.

The firm, Mercantile, will be working out of MMRDA’s office in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and will oversee the authority’s social communication and creatives. According to officials, MMRDA invited bids from the state’s empanelled public relations (PR) firms before making its choice.

“We have to keep communication channels open with citizens. The work of all Metro corridors will also increase in the coming years, making it essential for people to stay informed,” said a senior MMRDA official. He added that the social media accounts will also be used to answer citizen’s queries. MMRDA’s Facebook page is already active, with details about the recent land deal in BKC and the metropolitan commissioner’s visit to Lucknow to study the city’s Metro system.

“It should have been done earlier. People get updated on Metro-3 as MMRC is active on social media, but are unaware of the status of other corridors,” said Ravinarayan Seshan, a resident of Matunga.

First Published: Jul 25, 2019 06:56 IST