Swipe, report, fix: Bengaluru's footpath crisis gets a Gen Z solution
A 14-year-old from Bengaluru has proposed Rasthe, a swipe-based app to report broken footpaths to BBMP. The idea frames pedestrian safety and congestion as linked civic issues that residents can help flag.
Bengaluru’s traffic problems are so legendary that people usually joke about them. But a 14-year-old teenager from the city decided to approach the issue differently, by building what he calls “Tinder for Footpaths.” Surya Uthkarsha has gone viral after sharing a civic-tech idea which is a crowdsourced platform designed to help people report damaged pavements directly to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). In a video shared on X, Surya introduced the app, named “RASTHE”, with a dramatic one-line pitch: “fixed Bengaluru and TRAFFIC in 30 minutes.”
The platform aims to address a problem most Bengaluru pedestrians know too well, unusable footpaths that force people onto already congested roads. According to Surya, users can upload and report broken or missing pavements, swipe through footpath conditions similarly to dating apps, and upvote areas that urgently need repairs.
“Meet RASTHE: Tinder for Footpaths,” he wrote in the post, explaining that the app is designed to “turn every citizen into a sensor for the city.”
The teenager also highlighted how improving walkability could indirectly help Bengaluru’s traffic problem by reducing the number of pedestrians forced to navigate busy roads alongside vehicles.
“If roads are built for cars, this is built for people,” he wrote, adding that better footpaths could help reduce congestion by encouraging safer pedestrian movement. See the post: The concept quickly caught attention online, not just because of its quirky presentation but also because many users found the idea surprisingly practical. Several people praised the teenager for thinking about urban infrastructure at an age when most people are still figuring out school homework. Others joked that Bengaluru’s civic problems were now being solved by teenagers with apps faster than by actual city authorities. Many users also appreciated the app’s familiar “swipe” format, saying it could make civic participation feel more interactive and accessible, especially for younger residents. For many online, the viral post felt like a rare moment where internet humour and civic innovation genuinely came together.