Water woes haunt Noida residents; crisis to linger post Diwali

It is festive season but the residents of Noida are facing a harrowing time as they are forced to bear annual water crisis along with the ever-increasing pollution.

According to the officials of Noida Authority, the problem of water shortage is going to persist beyond Diwali as the cleaning exercise is going to continue till November 9.  As a temporary arrangement, the authority is supplying drinking water to residents and industrial units through tankers.

Presently, the total demand of water in Noida is 332 MLD (million litres per day). The authority supplies 56 per cent Ganga water and 44 per cent groundwater.  However, the officials said the drinking water supply is affected only in a few areas.

“We provide 30 tankers daily to supply drinking water to the areas where residents complain of low water supply," SC Arora, senior project engineer who heads the water department of the Noida Authority, said.

Whereas, S N Pandey, a resident of Sector 41, complained of getting filthy water supply.

 “Even the little amount water which we are getting these days is dirty most of the time. Like every year, we are compelled to buy packaged water. Moreover, the Noida Authority charges money from the residents to supply this dirty and some time low pressure water,” Pandey stated.

As a normal practice, the Uttar Pradesh’s irrigation department, every year during autumn, suspends Ganga water supply for about a month to remove silt.  This year, the department concerned on October 7 started the annual cleaning of silt in the upper Ganga water canal that supplies drinking water to Noida and Ghaziabad.

Pollution scare: Parents forced to take 14-month-old outside city on Diwali

It is quite discouraging how air pollution is affecting the lives of people in Delhi-NCR. The parents of a 14-months-old boy, who is suffering from bronchitis, have been forced to leave the city for this year’s Diwali.

The air quality has worsened in the last few days. It has already reached “severe” category.

The air quality is expected to further deteriorate on Diwali. The conditions in the national capital are not conducive to the boy, Samar Mathur. In fact, his parents fear that air pollution is life-threatening to the little child.

The boy’s mother, Tripti Mathur said, “Although he had minor respiratory problems at birth, his situation was not this serious. He is facing difficulty in breathing for the last one week. We are constantly consulting doctors. We are forced to take him away from the city until the situation improves.”

She added that a doctor at Fortis Hospital advised them to take the child out of the city as it is very dangerous for him.

“We had planned to celebrate Diwali here at my home but the safety of my child is more important. I would take him to my native place Bulandshahr. I work with a private firm in Noida and have applied for leave for a month. I am thankful to my office for their cooperation,” she said.

City Spidey also spoke to the doctor Vivek Goswami who treated Sameer at Fortis Hospital (Noida).

Goswami told that there are many patients who are complaining breathing problems these days. Newly-born babies up to five-year-old, pregnant women and senior citizens are more vulnerable to the toxic air.

“Number of patients suffering from bronchitis or bronchial asthma has increased more than 10 times. Basically, pollutants damage the lungs, heart, kidney etc. I advise parents to avoid taking their children outside. They should avoid areas full of dust,” he said.

“People should wear N-95 mask only. Many parents asked me if they should go out of the city. But I don’t force them to do it. It is up to them because working parents have their own constraints,” he added.

Along with the national capital, the air quality in Noida and Greater Noida has also reached “severe” category. Noida and Greater Noida are witnessing pollution due to rapid building constructions, burning of brick kiln.

Vikrant Tongad, an environmentalist in Greater Noida said, “Construction works are rampant in both Noida and Greater Noida despite the high levels of air pollutions. Roads in Noida Extension area are full of dust. No water sprinkling is being done here.”

World's tallest statue by Noida-based Ram Vanji Sutar unveiled today!

Noida-based sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar — the man behind the 182-metre (600 foot) bronze statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel that was unveiled today by the PM in Gujarat to mark the birth anniversary of  the leader — has created at least 50 well-known sculptures of Indian political leaders during a career spanning over 60 years.

During one of his interviews, he said he had gone through 2,000 photographs of Sardar Patel to ensure accuracy of the facial features of the world’s tallest statue.

According to L&T officials quoted in a PTI report, built at a cost of Rs 2,989 crore, this statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, also known as the Statue of Unity has been done indigenously except for the bronze cladding . It is located about 3.5 km downstream from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, on Sadhu Hill, on the bed of Narmada.

The statue was visualised as Sardar Patel walking on River Narmada towards the dam; its design took a lot of brainstorming owing to various challenges in terms of location, height and pose.

The raft construction of the structure actually begun on 19 December, 2015, and took 33 months to complete.

According to L&T officials, the iconic statue is taller than the 153-m Spring Temple Buddha in China, and almost twice the height of the world-famous Statue of Liberty in New York.

Recently, this Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan recipient was selected for the prestigious 2016 Tagore Award by the Union Ministry of Culture. City Spidey also ran a report on the same.

Noida has played a special role in his life, the artiste has confessed to City Spidey during one of his earlier interviews.   

His words: “To me, Noida is home. It’s like a son I have seen grow up in front of my eyes. When we shifted from Delhi nearly three decades ago, it just had a few roads and a handful of stores. I remember we used to feel scared to go out at night. And look at it today — it has bustling markets, gigantic malls and facilities on a par with the national capital.”

Lovingly, this resident of Sector 19 had added, “Delhi fostered us, but Noida fuelled us... I eventually fell in love with this place. As I saw my sculptures take shape, I decided to stay in a city that had given me so much.”

Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake Metro section opens for public

Offering Diwali gift to citizens of the national capital, the Delhi Rail Metro Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday opened its much awaited Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake Metro line for the commuters.

The Pink Line Metro stretch is connected to Red Line at Welcome and Blue Line at Karkardooma and Anand Vihar ISBT.

The 17-km long elevated corridor has 15 stations - Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake, East Vinod Nagar, Mayur Vihar Phase 2, Mandawali, West Vinod Nagar, IP Extension, Anand Vihar ISBT, Karkardooma, Karakrdooma Court, Krishna Nagar, East Azad Nagar, Welcome, Jaffrabad, Maujpur-Badarpur, Johri Enclave, Gokulpuri and Shiv Vihar.

The Metro stretch was formally flagged off for passengers by Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi government ministers including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia and State Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.

WagonR snatched from Ola driver on Noida-GreNo Expressway; theft case booked

In a crime-related incident, four unknown miscreants snatched a white-coloured WagonR from an Ola driver on Noida-Greater Noida Expressway on Monday night.

When City Spidey asked local police about the details of the person, they said the victim, identified as Dinesh Kumar, is a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district. Police added the driver took the car on rent 50 days ago as the owner of the vehicle is Anuj Aggarwal, a resident of Govindpuram, Ghaziabad.

Replying to our question on what immediate action they took when they get to know the incident, police said since the GPS of the car was not working, they were unable to track it.

When we asked the driver about the whole incident, he narrated, “I offered them a ride from Logix City Centre to Gama 1 in Greater Noida, without a mobile booking around 10 pm. All of a sudden, these people, asked me to stop the car near Sector 135, citing nature’s call. The moment I stopped it, they overpowered me and covered my face with a scarf. Then, they dumped me on the roadside and fled with the car.”

Pankaj Panth, Station House Officer (SHO) of Sector 24 police station, said they have registered an FIR under Section 392 (Punishment for robbery) against the four unknown persons on the basis of a complaint received from the driver and the owner of the car.

“We are suspecting driver’s role too in the case. Well, the investigation is underway,” Panth said.

Noida: Man arrested for hiring criminals to shoot woman

A man was arrested by police on Monday night for giving money to two criminal to shoot a 30-year-old woman working at an outlet of an electronics company. He suspected that the woman was responsible for influencing his wife to escape with the third person.

As per the police, the women lived in a high-rise apartment in Sector-50, Noida. After an encounter near SSP office, the accused Rajender was arrested with the two criminals.

Rajender lived in Khoda Colony. Sunil and Vipin were residents of Sector 8, Noida and New Ashok Nagar respectively.

During the encounter, the police had fired a bullet on the leg of Rajender. He was taken to district hospital afterwards. The other two criminals had managed to run away from the spot. But, they were later nabbed during a combing operation in the area.

The SHO of Sector 20 police station, Manoj Panth revealed that Rajendar claimed during interrogation that his wife fled away with the third person after the influence from her colleague working at the outlet of an electronics company. Rajender got married in 2016.

Police informed that Rajender had no criminal background. But, the other two have been involved in crimes. Sunil already has 10 cases registered against him whereas Vipin has 4.

Police had also recovered a 32 bore pistol, Honda car, a mobile phone, two country-made guns and 24 bullets. They informed that the Honda car was stolen on October 17 and the mobile phone was stolen on October 26.

Noida pollution crackdown: 3 stone crushers, 5 generators seized in raids

As Noida’s air quality turned ‘severe’, the city administration, pollution department and police have swung into action. Joint enforcement drives were conducted in different parts of the city and three stone crushers and five generators were seized on Yamuna floodplains. noida news

The air quality index (AQI) of Greater Noida also increased to ‘very poor’.

On Tuesday, the AQI of Noida was recorded at 408 in the day, up from 352 on Monday.

In Greater Noida also, the AQI jumped to 394 from 385 on Monday. Officials seized four vehicles (a car and three stone crushers) from an illegal crushing site during a joint crackdown by the administration, pollution board and police. The unit’s operator, however, managed to escape.

Shailendra Kumar Singh, Noida's city magistrate, said that the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) had laid down clear guidelines to check pollution levels across the NCR. “We had received information about illegal stone crushers running along the Yamuna floodplains. A raid was conducted and three stone crushers and five generators were found near Pushta Road. However, the operator, Pal Singh, managed to escape before the team reached the spot.” Singh said.

The magistrate further added that a search has been launched to nab Pal Singh who will be booked under the Gangster Act.

Noida and GreNo residents turn out in huge numbers for Run for Unity

The Run for Unity was flagged off today, observed as National Unity Day or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, from Noida Stadium in Sector 21A. It saw residents participating from both Noida and Greater Noida in great numbers.

Noida News

This day (October 31st) also coincides with the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and this year is his 143rd birth anniversary.

Nearly 2,000 people took part in the marathon, including schoolchildren, former servicemen and many senior citizens.

Before the race was flagged off, Mahesh Sharma took a pledge along with the participants to follow the path laid out by Sardar Patel and to maintain the unity of the nation.

Local MP Mahesh Sharma and Noida MLA Pankaj Singh, chief guests for the marathon, also took part in the run.

Speaking to City Spidey, Pankaj Tripathi, a resident of Sector 77, and a participant, said, “This marathon is a way of paying respect to Sardar Patel. Such runs also encourage fitness besides encouraging camaraderie.”

The marathon was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

Work on road connecting Noida’s Sec 74 to 120 to start soon

The residents of high-rise societies in Noida’s Sectors 74, 75, 77 and 78 can look forward to better road connectivity as work on a stretch of one kilometre, connecting Sector 74 to Sector 120, will soon begin.

The work will start by the end of November, said sources in the Noida Authority.

Once completed, motorists travelling from sectors 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 to Sector 120 will save a great deal of time while taking the stretch.

The work has been stuck for several reasons such as the National Green tribunal (NGT) banning the use of hot mix plants and land conflict with the farmers.

Project engineer of Noida Authority ML Rawat explained that the road conflict with farmers has been resolved up to 90 per cent and the rest would be done by the next week. “Soon, authority will buy the land from the farmer of Sarfabad village and then work will start immediately,” Rawat added.

Conflict between local farmers and Noida Authority has stalled most of the road connectivity work in Noida.

Once completed, the road in discussion is expected to ease traffic on Sector 72 main road and also provide alternate access to DSC (Dadri-Surajpur-Chalera) road via Sectors 76-78. The road will connect Sector 120 to 116 all the way to Sectors 74-78.

Rajnagar Extn: Administration halts work at 14 under construction projects

In view of deteriorating air quality of Delhi-NCR, as many as 14 under construction real estate projects in Rajnagar Extension were fined and closed on Monday by Ghaziabad authorities for allegedly violating the construction norms and flouting the Graded Response Action Plan running in the city. 

Chief of district pollution board AK Tiwari said that a fine of Rs 5.8 lakhs has been levied on 12 developers.  

The move was taken under the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) guidelines after city’s air quality index (AQI) touched the severe category on Monday. 

With AQI value of 430, Ghaziabad was found to be the most polluted city in India, followed by Kanpur with AQI of 422. This was the third consecutive day when the city’s AQI remained in the severe category. On Saturday, the AQI was recorded at 404 while on Sunday it was 415.

The worsening pollution levels have severely impacted the health of the residents living on upper floors of high rises in Indirapuram, Rajnagar Extension, and Crossings Republik.

Lipika Bhushan, a resident of ATS Advantage in Indirapuram, said that the pollution level is so bad on the upper floors that she can’t even open the windows and doors of her flat throughout the day. “We have installed an air purifier at home which is continuously showing AQI above 300.”

Gyanvardhan Singh, a resident of 12th floor in Gaur Cascades in Rajnagar Extension, shared that their life has become miserable over the past couple of weeks. “We have stopped stepping into our balcony. The pollution is so evident at this height that our eyes start to itch the moment we open the windows,” he added.

There has been a surge of breathing-related illnesses and allergies reported by the residents, however, the doctors say the situation will only get worse till Diwali.

Dr Anshul Varshney, physician and diabetologist practicing in Rajnagar Extension, said that the number of patients complaining of bronchitis, irritation in eyes and breathing difficulties has doubled over the past one week. “They all question about the cause of their illness. It is the poisonous air that we are breathing”

Varshney advised against the use of mosquito repellents, Agarbatti and incense. “These things further pollute the air inside the house and create breathing difficulties. For temporary relief, anti-pollution masks can be used,” he added.

Meanwhile, the district administration had earlier taken a slew of measures to curb rising air pollution. All construction activities are banned from November 1 to November 10. Mechanized sweeping is being done on over 23 main roads of Ghaziabad. Also, Municipal Corporation has deployed 17 water tankers for water sprinkling along 23 stretches of Ghaziabad. 

SC lets states have their own time-frames, but within a window of 2 hrs

Modifying its earlier decision, the Supreme Court — while keeping the time limit of two hours between 8pm to 10 pm across Delhi-NCR for bursting crackers on Diwali — also allowed the state governments to set their own time-frames. However, the duration is not to exceed two hours a day.      

Also, its earlier order permitting the use of only green firecrackers was meant for Delhi-NCR alone, and not for the entire nation, the apex court clarified today. 

On October 23, the top court had said that people across the country could burst crackers only between 8 pm and 10 pm on Diwali and other festivals. Exceptions have been made only for Christmas and New Year’s night, when crackers could be burst between 11.55 pm to 12.30 am.

To add teeth to anti-pollution measures, yesterday the apex court has directed government authorities in Delhi-NCR to strictly impose bans on plying 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles. It also directed the transport departments to impound such vehicles if found plying.

Terming the air pollution in Delhi-NCR “very critical” and “horrible”, the top court also directed transport departments to publish a list of such vehicles on the websites of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and transport department.

It also directed the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) — headed by chairman Dr Bhure Lal — to take preventive steps under the Graded Response Action Plan meant to curb pollution in stages.

GreNo: Car stolen from Nirala Greenshire minutes after being parked

People often give a lot of impetus on the security at high-rises but it is rather upsetting that thieves still become successful in breaching it. Now, a shocker came from Nirala Greenshire where a thief was successful in stealing a car from within the parking area of the society.

The car was stolen within the five minutes of parking the car. The victim, Fateh Singh, parked his car at 7.09 am. When he returned back to the parking area at 7.12 am, the car was missing.

Talking to City Spidey, Singh informed that he gave car key to Sachin Tomar, a security guard, asking him to handover it to either his son or the other security guard who would join the duty after him.

Singh said, “When I asked Sachin where is my car? He said that he handed over the key to his son as he had asked to do so. I immediately informed the managing department of the society and after that, I lodged a written complain at Bishrakh police station.”

Later in the day, when police examined the CCTV cameras installed in the society, it emerged that the car was driven outside the society by one unknown person.

Through CCTV footages, police found that a person came inside the society, took the key that was put on a table and drove the car outside the society.

CCTV footages also revealed that the person who drove the car was earlier standing on his bike outside the gate. Before running away with the car, the person came inside on his bike and went outside immediately. Later, he entered the society walking and drove the car outside.

“It cannot happen without the involvement of security guards. An unknown person entered the society on his bike but the security guard did not object his entry. After a few minutes, the same person entered society and again the security guard did not ask anything. Sachin helped him to get inside the society and allowed him to flee with the car,” Singh added.

During the interrogation, Sachin (in police custody) told the police that he had handed over the key to Singh’s son. Police said that three persons have been arrested and the investigation is going on.

A post office for Greater Noida West on the anvil; proposal tabled

Responding to the demand for a post office by Greater Noida residents, a proposal for one in Greater Noida West has been finally tabled.  

The area has more than 20 high-rises, housing more than 50,000 residents, underscoring the importance of a post office in the area. 

According to sources, temporary arrangements will be done at Bisrakh village post office near telephone exchange, but a permanent one will start functioning after Holi.

For Sector 1 residents of Greater Noida West, there’s a temporary post office operational in Surajpur area, and they can order online by using pincode 201306. Residents from other sectors can use the one at Bisrakh village till a new one comes up.

Talking about the difficulties with City Spidey, a resident, Suresh Napal, said, “If I want to order something online, I’ll have to furnish all the details, including the house address, a landmark and pin code. Residents here often complain of not receiving items they’ve ordered. It’s really a big problem.”

They, therefore, started an online campaign, Tweeting about the problems on the official handle of India Post.

Dwarka: Civic bodies fail to curb pollution; residents cry for ‘fruitful’ steps

With Diwali round the corner and the threat of getting gripped by the menace called pollution, it seems that Dwarka is not taking its ‘most polluted area’ tag seriously as civic agencies are unable to curb it in any given manner. Dwarka News

All sorts of norms laid seem to be violated. A visit by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) Chairman, Dr Bhure Lal, to the affected areas recently defeats the purpose as issues like garbage burning, ongoing construction work and others are still rampant.

Besides, a blame game is also going on. On one hand where residents are blaming the authorities for their callous attitude, authorities, on the other, are holding people responsible for this grave situation. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials say they are taking initiatives and implementing proper measures but in reality, it is not at all visible.

Sanjeev Sharma, a resident of Sector 11 said, “Mechanical sweeping machines can be seen on master plan map but not on actual roads. This is merely eyewash and nothing else.  The service lanes, too, are full of dust and there seems to be no solution from civic bodies.”

Sweepers, who do manual sweeping, are facing a tough time due to excessive dust.

 “I have developed respiratory problem since two weeks. I bought this mask couple of days back from a roadside vendor. I do not know how effective is this, but corporation must take care of us as we are in direct exposure of dust every day,” told one of the sweepers to City Spidey, working in Sector 13 during his morning schedule.

When we asked the civic agencies concerned about the steps they are taking to curb the pollution, they said that sprinkling of water would be carried out to settle the dust on the roads. They also assured that dust settled on trees, leaves will be washed off but nothing has happened yet.  Locals are facing harrowing time going out for a walk in the morning and evening.

Ramesh Mumukshu, an environment activist and resident of Sector 16 B, said, “Authorities are not at all serious and they do not seem to take honest initiatives, otherwise, the pollution would have been controlled. Roads are full of dust and there is no solution whatsoever.”

In its press release dated 12th October 2018, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said that they were committed to mitigate air pollution and all sorts of machineries, including 18 mechanical sweepers, 40 new water tankers, 5 small water sprinklers and 20 additional water sprinklers, would be used to neutralise the pollution by taking proper measures. But, all these have been proved as ‘mere eyewash’ and nothing else.

“The increasing level of pollution every day is a proof in itself that SDMC is doing nothing. What can we say? We are the worst sufferers,” Nirmala Singh, a resident of Sector 14, said.

Noida: RWA members, residents of Sec 51 and police hold ‘security’ meet

Concerned with the overall security of the area and hoping for a permanent solution, a meeting between RWA members, residents of Noida Sector 51 and station house officer (SHO) of Sector 49 police station, Anita Chauhan, was held on Sunday late night.

Members of the sector handed over a letter to her, containing the key issue related to Manav Rachna School, and a few specific problems of the sector which were discussed at length.

Sanjeev Kumar, general secretary of  Sector 51, explained in the letter, “The school has installed three illegal gates in the sector, violating the approved plan from Noida Authority. However, the authority on the basis of our complaints on Chief Minister’s "Jansunwai” app, issued three notices to the school management to shut them.” Noida News

"Well, the school did not comply with the direction of Noida Authority because of their contacts in the authority as well as police, on the contrary, complaints were filed against us that we have demanded Rs 35000/- from them so that an extortion case can be registered against us which is completely false,” he added.

“Besides, a meeting was called recently by the chairman of the authority where the head of the RWA and the owner of the Manav Rachna school were advised to resolve the matter. The talks are in progress but they have now filed another complaint against us due to which the matter is in limbo." Sanjeev Kumar further said.

Residents of the sector are also worried with the growing menace of people sitting till late night, consuming alcohol in parks, on roads nearby Girls Senior Secondary school and Vitamins and Dietary Supplements (VDS) market. Issue of illegal parking of commercial vehicles by the villagers living nearby was also discussed with the SHO.

Other key issues like encroachments on footpath, installation of gates between the nearby village and the sector, illegal or suspicious activities taking place in guest houses were also discussed. Anita Chauhan, the SHO, assured residents of  necessary actions to be taken on priority basis.

When City Spidey asked her about the next course of action, Chauhan said, “I will discuss all these issues with the officers of the authority concerned because some of these works have to be done by them.

Replying on the security aspect of the society of which residents are worried about, Chauhan further added, “Nobody can take law and order in his or her hand.  I will make sure that police patrolling gets increased in the area.”

Gzb: Agitated people stage protest against Continental Carbon; demand closure

Disgruntled with the persistent accumulation of soot in their lives and lackadaisical attitude of authorities to recourse the issue, the residents of Crossings Republik, Dundahera and Chipyana Buzurg, neighbouring villages and students of ABES engineering college hit the streets on Saturday.

Over 400 people gathered at the gates of Continental Carbon India Limited (CCIL), located along NH-24 in Bulansahr industrial area, and shouted slogans, staged dharna, demanding immediate closure of this killer factory. Ghaziabad News

The residents of the neighbouring area too complained the pollution has impacted their health severely. Many complained of respiratory problems, irritation in eyes, blurred vision and sore throat.

Vikas Hindu, a resident of Dundahera village alleged that around 8-10 kilometers of area in the vicinity of CCIL are severely affected.

Residents also complained the cases of cancer, skin diseases and asthma are rapidly increasing in nearby localities. Last week, when the outrage of Crossings residents made headlines, DM Ritu Maheshwari had ordered Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to inspect the factory premises and prepare the report.

AK Tiwari, regional officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), informed the investigation is over and the report is sent to the headquarters in Lucknow. 

“They will take action what they deem fit,” he said. Tiwari also told City Spidey that he has recommended “stringent” actions against the factory.

Besides, Tiwari also told that CCIL, which restarted their operations in March after being shut since December 2017, did not procure calibration certificate from UPPCB.

Meanwhile, AP Abraham, head of operations at the CCIL, refuted Tiwari’s claim stating that their calibration kit is connected with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and they can online monitor our emissions.

He dubbed the whole protest as “politically motivated.” Without naming anyone, Abraham said the protesters are backed by political agendas which CCIL do not want to entertain.

In December 2017, UPPCB had ordered Continental Carbon to shut down after it was found that the firm was violating the provisions of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, adding to air pollution in the vicinity. However, the firm was reopened in April 2018.

Dwarka: RWAs, police join hands to obey SC directives on crackers this Diwali

In order to celebrate a clean and green Diwali this year, hundreds of RWAs of various societies in Dwarka on Saturday joined hands with the police to make sure the Supreme Court’s directives on crackers are followed properly.

In a meeting, organised at Sector 10 by Federation of Cooperative Group Housing Societies, Dwarka and police, the RWA representatives were made aware of Supreme Court’s judgement. A copy of advisory was also given to the RWAs by the police to make sure the rules are properly understood. 

Dwarka News

Points given in the advisory were discussed in the meeting by the police and RWAs. ACP of the area, Rajender Singh, informed the RWAs that all the SHOs of the area would be in touch with them and they would ensure the rules are properly followed. He said that in case of violation, different actions would be taken under different acts.

Police informed the crackers would be allowed to burnt only in designated places and those places would be decided by the administration in a week. They further invited suggestions from the RWAs, asking them to share it with the civic bodies and the Delhi Government.

Replying to the question asked by residents whether they can burn crackers within the society premises, police said that those places too would be decided by the administration. 

Officials and other members from various schools were also present on the occasion.

Police said that several NGOs and other social organisations would be roped in for implementing all the directives laid down by the apex court on Diwali.

Noida Authority earmarks spots for bursting firecrackers on Diwali

As per the Supreme Court’s order, the Noida Authority has earmarked 21 places for community fire cracking on the occasion of Diwali. The identified spots are located at parks and vacant plots across various sectors. Noida News

As these spots are not available at all the sectors, people will have to go to the nearest sector to burn firecrackers.

The office on special duty (OSD) of Noida Authority, Rajesh Kumar Singh said that they will inform people about the selected spots and will also request people to burst crackers at the designated places only.

Singh said that the residents can also suggest places for community fire cracking. “Noida Authority officials will visit the location and approve it after inspection,” he added.

A meeting also happened between district magistrate BN Singh and Gautam Budh Nagar SSP over the matter. The administration also sent a letter to the Noida Authority.

Last week, the Supreme Court had ordered that only green crackers with reduced emission will be allowed on Diwali this year. The Apex Court had also ordered that bursting of firecrackers would be permitted only during 8-10 pm.

The SC had also banned the online sales of firecrackers. They had restrained e-commerce websites like Amazon and Flipkart from selling the firecrackers.

The spots earmarked for the bursting of firecrackers are as follows:

Ramlila Ground, Noida Stadium; C-55, Sector 62; A-548, Sector 46; Nehru Yuva Kendra, Sector 11; A-Block, Sector 31; C-42/43, Sector 23; I-Block, Sector 27; B-Block, Sector 34; Community Centre, Sector 39; Sector 40 park; Sector 43, near Stellar Greens; Sector 50 park; B-Block park, Sector 71; Sector 123, near dumping ground; Sector 108, near traffic park; Sector 92, near Panchsheel Inter Col; Sector 78, Green Park; Sector 137, near Gulshan Vivante; Sector 81, near Samsung India and Sector 108, near Divine society.

Crossings Republik: People demand closure of CCIL for excessive carbon emission

To demand the closure of Continental Carbon India Limited, the residents on Sunday again protested at the gate of CCIL. Over five hundred residents from Crossings Republik, ABES, Dundahera, Chipayana and Pratap Vihar demonstrated their anger against the alleged carbon emission by the company. Ghaziabad News

For the last two weeks, the residents of Crossings Republik and neighboring villages are battling with soot accumulation and increasing health hazards with it.

The residents accused CCIL, which is located along NH-24 in Bulandshahr industrial area, for strong emission of carbon particles which takes over the skyline every morning, making their life difficult on a daily basis.

Residents complain that their balconies, roads, pathways are smeared with carbon dust. “It has made our lives difficult,” said Sanchit Sharan, an engineering student from ABES College.

The residents of the area complained that the pollution impacted their health severely. Many complained of respiratory problems, irritation in eyes, blurred vision and sore throat.

Our kids and senior citizens keep coughing all day. This company’s failure to check its emission has endangered our lives. “We are prone to lung cancer if situation persists,” Sanjeev Pandey, a resident of Gaur Global Village in Crossings said while protesting.

The three hour long protest ended only when ADM Himanshu Gupta arrived at the protest site and assured the demonstrators of a strict action against the company.

“We have sent our findings to Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) headquarters. It is only upon them to take any action against CCIL,” Gautam said.

Gautam shared a copy of the letter written to UPPCB headquarters in which a committee constituted by DM Ritu Maheshwari has recommended the closure of CCIL owing to a “system failure” in the factory.

“The system failure had led uncontrolled handling of emission which generated the carbon and its layer was found inside the factory and several nearby societies as well,” the letter read.

When the outrage of Crossings’ residents against carbon emission made headlines last week, DM had constituted the committee consisting of SDM, City Magistrate and Regional Officer of UPPCB to inspect the factory premises and prepare the report.

“Either UPPCB will suggest closure of the company or it will redirect the investigation to Central Pollution Control Board,” Gautam said.

CCIL has been a serial violator in the past, both in India and abroad as well.

In December 2017, UPPCB had ordered Continental Carbon to shut down after it was found that the firm was violating the provisions of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, adding to air pollution in the vicinity.

 In March 2015, Environmental Protection Agency of United States (EPA) fined $99 million to mitigate alleged excessive emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

City Spidey tried to reach the officials at CCIL but our calls went unanswered.

Four newly-born peacocks rescued at Amrapali Zodiac; sent to Surajpur wetland

The residents at Amrapali Zodiac rescued four newly born peacocks within the premises of society on Sunday. They have themselves rescued the peacocks as no action was taken from forest departments despite repeated calls.

The officials from the forest department had asked the residents to bring the peacocks to their office.

A resident, Karunesh Singh said that the residents had called the forest department at around 10 am but they refused to visit the site.

They had informed police about the peacocks. “The police immediately visited the site. They also informed the forest department at 11 am. The forest department officials then said that they are coming to the site,” Singh said.

Noida News

But, the forest department officials only reached the site at around 5 pm.

The District Forest Officer (DFO), PK Srivastava said that the officials reached the spot late because of lack of facilities and unavailability of officers. “Officers reached the spot and they have taken the four birds to the wetland at Surajpur area,” DFO added.

Another resident informed that the birds were spotted in a vacant flat in Tower C. “The eggs were at the slab above the window. The peacocks were born few days back. They fell from the slab to a park on October 21. On Sunday, the birds fell from the spaces between the two towers into the basement. The birds were also injured after the fall,” he said.

The security guards then rushed to the basement to save the newly born peacocks from stray dogs. “We have kept the birds within protective boundary. They are now safe,” he added.

East End Apartments aims to check dog biting cases by making feeding areas

Amidst the rise in the dog biting cases, the managing committee of East End Apartments has come up with a plan to feed the stray dogs at designated areas at a fixed time.

The plan is intended to lessen the stray dog biting incidents as people were of the view that these incidents happen due to feeding by dog lovers. Delhi News

For this purpose, the managing committee has invited the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to help in identifying places. They will also consult the residents including dog lovers to fix the timings for feeding the stray dogs in the society.

In a circular, the committee has requested all stray dog feeders to be present at 1:30 pm on Wednesday (October 31).

Making proper guidelines on the issue has been a challenging task for the managing committee because a section of residents feel that stray dogs are a threat to their safety.

However, the dog lovers believe that the animals are harmless and should be treated humanely. Therefore, the managing committee seems to have chosen the middle path to address this issue.

A resident told City Spidey that at least four members of a family (block 4) were attacked by stray dogs at different times. A woman who lives in Block 17 was attacked by stray dogs two times.

As per the information, there may be 40-50 stray dogs in the society at present. They are being fed by nearly a dozen dog lovers.

JP Verma, vice president of the managing committee said, “Number of dog biting cases have increased in past few years and therefore, the managing committee has decided to come out with the proper plan to ensure the safety of residents.”

Residents of the society said that it would be a good step by the managing committee and all residents should support the move. However, residents are also of the view that earmarking of place and setting time will not be a complete solution to this issue until stray dogs are allowed to roam around in the society.

A resident, who lives in Block 13 said, “Doing something is better than doing nothing. I believe it is a good step from the managing committee but only time will tell how effective this move will be.”

Driver arrested in Noida nursery student molestation case

In a breakthrough, 29-year-old bus driver was arrested by the police on Sunday morning for allegedly molesting the three-year-old nursery student of a private school on her school bus while he was dropping her back home in Greater Noida on October 9.

Noida News

The accused has been identified as Hafeez-ur-Rehman, said the cops. He was arrested from Sector 71 area after police followed a tip of an informer on his movement in the area.

He was enrolled in school staff as a bus driver in 2014 and has been living in the school premises with her wife and children.

According to the SHO of Surapur police station, “He says that he isn’t involved in the case and knows about the incident only through newspaper reports."

 A nursery student of a private school in Noida’s sector 70 was allegedly raped by the school bus driver while he was dropping her back home on October 9. A case was registered with the Surajpur police station.

The parents alleged that for nearly 15 days they were given assurance by the school that they will take action against the driver and even lodge a police complaint in the matter. “On October 23, we went to the school and asked for a copy of the FIR and the driver’s termination letter. However, the school denied us the documents and alleged that they were not accountable to us,” said the mother in her complaint.

After the school didn’t take any satisfactory action, the parents approached the police and filed a complaint with the Surajpur police station.

A case of rape was registered against the unknown bus driver under sections of rape (376A and 376B) along with sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO), Act.

Twin pin codes confuse residents of GreNo West, demand ‘proper’ post office

Confused with the pin code and troubled by the after-effects of it, the residents of Greater Noida (West) or formerly known as Noida Extension, are demanding for a post office in the area.

When City Spidey contacted Vikas Kumar, one of the residents, and asked him about the reason for its need, he said, “It is really important. See, if any resident here wants to order something online, he needs to furnish all the details including house address, landmark and pin code. Because there is confusion, people often complain of not receiving their items they order for. We face the same issue with couriers, parcels and other important documents too. It has become a big nuisance now.”

He added saying this prompted the residents to take up this issue seriously and started an online campaign, tweeting about it to the official handle of Indian Post.

Vikas Kumar, after getting positive replies from the department concerned, is feeling little worried and relaxed.

“Now we know that a permanent post office is in the pipeline but temporarily, a post office is operational in Surajpur area," Kumar said.

For general understanding, the pin code for Sector 1 area is 201306 whereas for Sector 4, Gaur City area, 16B and other areas, it is 201009. More than 15 residential sectors are there and over 50,000 people reside in these areas.

Illegal commercial activities in I’puram: GDA, DM asked to file status report

Keeping in view the illegal commercial establishments becoming rampant in Indirapuram, the Allahabad High Court (HC) on Thursday ordered Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) and District Magistrate (DM) to file a status report regarding the steps taken to shut them.

The high court gave the order on hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Federation of Apartment Owners Association (FedAOA), Indirapuram.

Alok Kumar, the petitioner and president of FedAOA said that GDA has not been able to contain the commercialization and full flow operations of unauthorized shops in the area.

“Look at all the roads in Indirapuram! We see commercial activities at every nook and corner of the city, which, in fact, was developed only for residential purpose,” Kumar said.

Besides, FedAOA in the PIL alleged GDA for being involved and shielding unauthorized commercial establishments which has led to chaos in the area by causing traffic jams, road encroachments, illegal parking, air and noise pollution and street crimes.

“All these have degraded the quality of life of the residents,” he added.

The PIL also mentions the allegations of underreporting of the number of notices served to residential property owners by GDA for using their property for unauthorized commercial establishments.

“In reply to an RTI application I filed, GDA revealed in May 2018 that 1494 residential property owners have been served notice while in reality, the figure is over 5000,” Kumar alleged.

Kumar said that authority took almost two years to reveal the data and even after that, the numbers shown are not credible enough.

Meanwhile, the high court has given three weeks’ time to the authority and district administration to the file status report and counter affidavit before it by November 14, the date of next hearing.

Taking note of it, GDA Vice Chairperson, Kanchan Verma, said the authority will file a counter affidavit soon.

“Survey of such activities happens time to time and we also serve notices to the violators,” she added.

VC also informed that GDA had served notices to over 8500 violators across its eight zones in the last survey conducted.

Premia con girl arrested by Noida police for duping buyers

Natasha Rajput, former HR and manager of Premia Projects Private Limited, had been on the run since 2017 for duping homebuyers — taking money from them in exchange for plots that were never meant to be.

Yesterday night, acting on a tip-off, officials from Sector 20 police station finally arrested her from Delhi airport. She was travelling from Canada.

The police also plans to seize her bank accounts. However, they are doubtful about the recovery of the money buyers lost.  

 “Three cases were registered against her at Sector 20 police station. She was on the run since 2017. The investigation was handed over to the crime branch only last week. We are hopeful that after this arrest, more people will come forward and file complaints,” an official said.

Rajput is a resident of Sector 56 in Gurgaon.

According to one of her victims, buyers had paid various amounts depending on the size of the so-called “plots”.

Speaking to City Spidey, a resident of Greater Noida, who didn't want to be named, said, “I was introduced to the project in 2014 by a friend. We paid over Rs 25,00,000 in installments. After a while, the builder stopped responding to our calls or emails, following which we registered a complaint at the Sector 20 police station.” 

Forty guards of KW Srishti in Rajnagar Ext rendered jobless in a day!

Days after the protest by guards at KW Srishti in Rajnagar Extension over non-payment of arrears, the management of the society terminated the services of the security agency, leaving 40 guards unemployed in a day. The security agency — Rockwell Securitas Management Pvt Ltd — was told on Thursday evening that their services were being terminated with immediate effect.

“On Thursday evening, a call came from our head office that the society's management has terminated the contract with our agency and we are out of job,” said 52-year-old Shashi Bhushan, who has been working at the society for more than a year now.

The news came as a jolt to the guards, as many of them had salary arrears for over two months.

Rendered jobless, Naresh Chand, who has not been paid for two months now, lashes out, “I hail from Barabanki, adjacent to Lucknow. Neither can I stay in the city, nor do I have the money to head home. I’m clueless about my future.”

The residents, however, had anticipated such a move by the management.

“Given the ruthless reputation of the builder, the move came as no shock to us. He doesn’t even allow dissatisfied residents to protest, let alone the guards whom he willfully threw out of jobs,” said a resident, on condition of anonymity.

The guards had led a protest this Monday in front of the society gate over non-payment of salaries for over two months. In fact, over 300 residents had come out in their support and joined the protest.

Sanjeev Kumar Bhadana, managing director of Rockwell Securitas, also told City Spidey that the management was furious over the protests led by the guards. “Next day, we received a mail from the management threatening to terminate our services.” 

Bhadana alleged that for the last four months, the management had been unnecessarily withholding payments to the agency. “I received the payment of July in October. For how long could I have given salary out of my pockets when I’m not receiving any payments from the client itself,” he said.

The management has also not allowed the guards to serve a month’s notice, a clause specified in their contract, claimed Bhadana.  “We can take recourse to labour laws, but our priority is to reemploy these guards first.”

Yesterday evening, Bhadana informed, the management had cleared all the dues.

When City Spidey got in touch with Rajat Sethi, facilities manager of KW Srishti, he said the decision was taken in view of the poor performance of the guards.

Society's diktat on pets compels Noida family to vacate rented flats

In a rather troubling incident, a family, residing along with their relatives in Noida’s Lavanya Apartment (Sector 62) for the last five years, has been asked by the managing committee of the society to either abandon their pet or leave the society. The family, now, has no other option than to choose the latter one.

When City Spidey contacted Abhishek Bhattacharya, the victim, and asked about the whole incident, he narrated, “Actually, we brought a three-month-old Labrador to our home, thinking that my mother-in-law, who lost her husband and remains depressed, would find a companion in him to spend some quality time. Everything was fine until a sweeper in the society saw the dog urinating on stairs outside our flats. Sweeper refused to clean that area which resulted in an argument between me and the sweeper following which the matter was escalated to the managing committee.”

 “Earlier, we were asked to vacate flat number B-6 as the flat owner said his daughter will be staying here. We requested him to give at least two months’ time to which he agreed. We somehow manage to get a flat in J block in the same society and were planning to shift there. But after this issue, landlord of that flat too got uncomfortable and refused to give his flat to us on rent,” Abhishek added.

Abhishek, while stressing on the adamant behaviour shown by the managing committee also pointed out on society’s earlier notice which had no such rule.

When City Spidey asked the same question to the president of the society, TK Bera, he replied, “The notice which he is talking about was before 2016. The decision of not allowing dog was taken in the general body meeting and that too with the consent of residents in majority. We were receiving complaints related to dog-biting in the society and hence the matter was put before all.”

Replying to another question on how the managing committee would justify that a family that was living for the past five years has been abruptly asked to leave the society because they have a pet dog, Bera vaguely said, “We are nobody to ask the family to leave the society. We are just following the norms of the society which are prescribed with the majority of the residents.”

Abhishek Bhattacharya, who works with the Delhi government’s Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) department and his wife Deepshikha, who is associated with a private firm in Noida, are living here as tenant since 2013. The couple lives in flat no B-5 whereas Deepshikha’s mother, Neelam Aggrawal and two sisters are residing in B-6.

Dwarka: RWAs advise residents to comply with SC order allowing green crackers

Taking note of the recent Supreme Court’s order on celebrating a ‘green Diwali’ this year, several societies in Dwarka have started sensitizing their residents on the key aspects of the directive.

In its verdict, the apex court had said that people will be allowed to burn only low-polluting green crackers, which are within permitted decibel limits and emission norms, between 8 pm and 10 pm on Diwali.

RWAs and management of societies are taking several steps to make children and senior citizens aware of the directive. President of Garden Estate Apartments in Sector 22, Dwarka, Col KS Chaudhry, said, “This year, our residents will only be allowed to burst crackers at central park during the allotted time.”

Treasurer of Lovely Home Apartments in Sector 5, Vishal Gupta, said that they have already sent personal messaged to all the residents enlisting the points of the court’s order. “We will try and keep the pollution levels to the minimum.”

In its directive, the Supreme Court had refused to impose a nationwide blanket ban of sale of crackers. However, it had imposed timing restrictions and said that SHOs of the area would be held liable in case of any violation of the order.

Meanwhile, the RWAs have extended their full support to police so that the directive is fully enacted in the sub city. Federation of Cooperative Group Housing Societies, Dwarka, will hold a joint meeting of RWAs, schools and police on Saturday at Vandana International School, Sector 10, at 4 pm.

General secretary of Federation of CGHS, Sudha Sinha, said, “We are trying to make sure that the directive reaches the maximum number of people and the community follows it effectively.”

BREAKING: 3-year-old molested by school bus driver in Noida; FIR lodged

A 3-year-old girl student of Sapphire International School was allegedly molested by the bus driver and two others when she was getting back home on Tuesday.

The girl informed about the molestation to her parents two days back.

An FIR was registered in this regard at the Surajpur police station on Thursday night.

The girl is a resident of Gulshan Homes at Sector 143 in Noida. The Sapphire International School is located at Sector 70 in Noida.

More details are awaited on this.

Noida-based sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar to be conferred 2016 Tagore Award

Ram Vanji Sutar, a resident of Sector 19 in Noida, has had a sculpting career of more than 60 glorious years. This Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan recipient has now been selected for the prestigious 2016 Tagore Award by the Union Ministry of Culture.  

The 93-year-old sculptor has designed the 522-ft-high Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Narmada district, and it is to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31.

Various statues sculpted by him have been placed in different cities and also in the Parliament.

Speaking to City Spidey, he said, “The PM liked my work. Later, I was assigned to design the world’s largest statue – the Statue of Unity. It’s a dream-come-true for me.”  

Tagore Award was instituted by the Union government during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011. The first award was conferred on sitar legend Ravi Shankar in 2012.