Manifesto
Why we keep the record
Where the name came from, and why collecting this metadata matters.
Why the name Rats&Roaches
The name brings together two sparks. India’s Cockroach movement showed how people dismissed by the system could reclaim an insult, use humour and short videos, and turn scattered frustration into a visible demand for accountability. Rats entered the story more literally: the first report for this site began with a roadside garbage pile crawling with them. But this platform is not about rats, roaches, or pest control. They are symbols of what happens when neglect is allowed to become normal — when garbage remains, drains overflow, roads break, hazards persist, and complaints disappear. Rats&Roaches is a memorable name for making all of that neglect harder to ignore.
Scattered proof is easy to ignore
Videos of dumps, drains, and hazards already live on Instagram and YouTube. Without a shared index, they vanish into personal feeds — seen once, forgotten, easy for a city to shrug off.
Metadata makes patterns visible
City, locality, category, optional coordinates, and a watch link turn one-off posts into a searchable public ledger. Filter by place or problem and the pattern stops looking like “just one corner.”
We do not host the video
Creators keep their footage on their platforms. We only store the story and the place — so the archive stays light, shareable, and honest about what we collect.
Pressure needs evidence, not vibes
Neighbors, journalists, and officials can point to a growing set of documented spots instead of “everyone knows it’s bad.” A record is harder to dismiss than a complaint in the air.
This is not an emergency line
Life-threatening issues belong with local authorities and emergency services. This site is for putting chronic civic neglect on the record — the mess that never makes the hotline but never goes away.