HDMC WhatsApp community hobbled with glitches

Hubballi: The Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation's (HDMC) WhatsApp (WA) community is hobbled with glitches within just a week after its launch. Many who tried to join the group complained that they were denied entry as the community was already full.Technical experts have pointed out that the WA community is currently free. If HDMC wants to allow thousands of members on board, it should opt for the paid service.Mayor Ramappa Badiger said he would speak to the HDMC commissioner and the IT cell to set things right.Keshav Bilgi, a citizen in Lingaraj Nagar, ward-37, told TOI he was trying to join the WA group, but got a message that it was full, although there are "only 23 members in the group" right now.Santosh Karki, a techie from Bengaluru, said he was happy when HDMC launched the group and the community to provide information daily. "But I was denied entry, saying the group was full," he said.Social activist Shivashankar Aiholi said he had joined the ward-55 WA group, where number of members was restricted to just 15. He said HDMC should first educate citizens on how to join the group and make good use of it."Otherwise, the initiative will be nothing more than a publicity stunt," he added.