Pothole reporting app by 15-year-old uses AI to track government follow-up

A teenager in New Delhi has turned a frightening family accident into a tech solution aimed at fixing one of the city’s most persistent problems: potholes. His app uses artificial intelligence to validate photos, assign severity, and push complaints straight to municipal authorities, removing much of the guesswork and frustration that often prevents citizens from getting repairs done.

The project, created by a 15-year-old named Parth, combines smartphone camera uploads, GPS tagging, and automated communication to streamline pothole reporting. What began as a personal response to a near-tragic roadside crash has grown into a working platform that already shows modest results and points toward broader possibilities for civic tech in India.

How the pothole reporting app works: photo, location, and validation

Project Sadak guides users through a simple process designed for quick, reliable reports that municipal systems can act on. The core steps are straightforward:

• Take a photo of the road damage with your phone;
• Use GPS to pin the exact location;
• Upload the image and location to the app’s server;
• Let AI and human reviewers verify the damage and grade its severity;
• Automatically generate and send a report to the relevant local authority.

The combination of camera evidence and coordinates helps cut down on vague complaints, while grading ensures the most dangerous holes get prioritized. Project Sadak flags the most severe hazards so they aren’t lost among lower-priority reports.

AI verification plus human oversight

Rather than trusting a single method, the system pairs machine learning with human review. The AI first checks whether an uploaded image actually shows a pothole and assesses rough severity. Then a human reviewer confirms the AI’s judgment and refines the rating as needed.

This hybrid approach reduces false positives and keeps the app from becoming a flood of unusable reports. It also makes the platform more reliable when it auto-generates messages for government offices.

Automated outreach to authorities

One of the app’s most practical features is its ability to compose and dispatch official-sounding complaints without users hunting for contact details. After a report is verified, the platform can:

• Draft an email or letter with the user’s digital signature;
• Identify the appropriate municipal department for the location;
• Submit the complaint directly on the user’s behalf.

Parth says he began by emailing authorities manually, but as the system matured he built automation so citizens don’t need to track down extension numbers or email addresses.

The origin: a family accident that became a civic tech project

The catalyst for Project Sadak was deeply personal. Parth’s parents were riding home at night from a family celebration in Agra when their motorcycle struck a pothole in New Delhi, resulting in an accident. Already interested in science and technology, he decided to create a tool that could reduce similar incidents by forcing authorities to respond faster.

He developed the basic code himself, and as the platform’s complexity increased he began integrating AI tools to handle image recognition and automated messaging. According to his account to local media, the project was built from the ground up with that goal in mind.

Early results: reports filed and repairs completed

The app has been used to register numerous problems across different cities. To date:

• 360 potholes have been reported through the platform;
• 11 of those have been repaired, most arranged directly by Parth using contractors connected to his father’s construction business.

Not all fixes relied on personal intervention. In one case reported from Bengaluru, local officials repaired a pothole even though Project Sadak’s AI couldn’t locate the right contact information—suggesting that detailed, evidence-backed complaints can still trigger action.

Known limitations and planned upgrades

Project Sadak is still a work in progress, and its creator is candid about the platform’s gaps. Current challenges include:

• Limited follow-up tracking: there’s no robust system yet to confirm whether reported potholes remain fixed over time;
• Incomplete automation: while the app drafts and sends messages, Parth envisions end-to-end processing from photo upload to submission without manual steps;
• Access barriers: requiring a downloaded app leaves out many users, prompting a plan for a WhatsApp chatbot to accept reports through a messaging interface.

Future features on the roadmap aim to make the service more scalable and user-friendly:

• Full AI-driven workflow from verification through dispatch;
• A WhatsApp chatbot so citizens can report potholes without installing an app;
• A monitoring module to track whether authorities complete repairs and to keep users informed.

Why this matters for civic technology and road safety

Small-scale projects like Project Sadak illustrate how citizen-driven technology can fill gaps left by slow bureaucracies. By packaging evidence, location, and automated outreach into one experience, the platform reduces friction for residents who want safer streets. It also highlights a broader trend: young developers applying AI to everyday civic problems, from infrastructure complaints to public accountability.

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Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson is an experienced journalist covering U.S. and global news. With ten years on the front lines, he breaks down political and economic stories that matter. His precise writing and keen attention to detail help you grasp the real‑world impact of every event.