How a Simple WhatsApp Chatbot Helped 1.5 Lakh Indians Fix Potholes, Tackle Floods & More

When floods swept across Punjab this year, Ranveer, a 24-year-old social activist from Mansa, watched his village disappear under muddy water. Homes stood drenched, walls cracked, roofs leaking. Families huddled together, unsure whether help would ever arrive. “I remember walking through the lanes, seeing despair on every face,” he recalls. “I wanted to do something, but I wasn’t an official. Who would listen to me?” What he did have was a small but powerful tool: the Reap Benefit WhatsApp chatbot.  Unsure where to begin, Ranveer opened it and followed the step-by-step prompts. He began documenting the damage, from clicking photos of broken walls to geotagging locations and noting names. At first, villagers were sceptical. Why was this young man taking pictures when people needed food and shelter? Soon, word spread that Ranveer was recording losses that could lead to compensation. Families began calling out, “Beta (son), please note down our house as well.” One report that changed a village’s fate House by house, he surveyed the destruction. Within days, Ranveer had logged more than 60 damaged homes. The chatbot automatically converted his inputs into a structured report with photos, GPS data, and descriptions. This moved beyond anecdotal evidence. It was
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