Gurgaon: Roads to be improved in all DLF areas in next 3 months

Work to avoid infra gap in DLF Phase 1, 2 and 3 will commence in the first week of March. After the completion of work in the next three months, the colonies will be entrusted upon the municipal corporation.

As per news report published in the Navbharat Times, the assurance was given by the management of the DLF to the Joint Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), Rohit Yadav, at a meeting presided by him on February 20. Executive engineers Dharamveer Malik, Anand Singh Rathi, I Ajay Panghal and Shekhar Basu, Anurag Dahiya and Vikas Yadav from DLF were present during the meeting.

Gurgaon News

The meeting was called after Director of Town and Planning, K M Pandurang ordered takeover of private colonies on February 12. Meanwhile, DLF management said that the power corporation is working on the Smart City project. As a result, several potholes can be seen on roads. Moreover, the weather is not favourable to construct more of them. Citing these two reasons, the DLF management said the construction work will begin in the first week of March and within three months, all the damaged roads will be improved. Besides, the work related to stormwater, drainage water, sewerage and horticulture will be completed by March 31.

Further, the Joint Commissioner of the civic body concerned has directed executive engineer Anand Singh Rathi to work with the consultant company and prepare a plan at the earliest to expel rainwater in DLF Phase-3. Apart from this, the power corporation has been requested to finish the work related to the Smart City project as soon as possible so that roads can be constructed in these areas.

A total cost of Rs 14.12 crore in DLF Phase 1, Rs 9.43 crore in Phase 2 and Rs 11.89 crore in Phase 3 will be spent to fill the infra gap. A thorough study has been made by the consultant company associated with the municipal body to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR).

Gaur City 5th Avenue: Residents want AOA elections after board examinations

The standoff between residents and builder is not coming to an end at Gaur City’s 5th Avenue. Now, seeing the maintenance activities going haywire at the society, the builder has suggested the residents to organise the AOA election by March 24.

But, as per the residents, this move was also lacking proper homework. They expressed their unhappiness over the dates for the AOA election as it coincides with the board examinations of students. They said that the builder decided the dates without applying their minds.

The residents said that board examinations are very important for the bright future of their children. They said that it is the time when their children want them the most. Election during that time can dearly affect the preparations for the examinations.

Preet Bhargava, a resident said, “We asked builder not to organise elections in the month of March due to board exams of class 10th and 12th which will end by April 3. If 40 people fight the election, they are supposed visit each flat. Parents and children are supposed to entertain the visitors which will affect their exam preparation schedule. For any parents, children exam is more important than anything else.”

Election requires a lot of activities within the society which includes campaigning by the candidates at the flats which can very well affect the children preparing for the examinations. Now, ball is in the court of the builder to think over the suggested dates for AOA election.

Meanwhile, the residents continue to be at the receiving end with the curtailed maintenance services at the society. The situation is such that seeing the shortage in cleaning staff, the residents started dumping their garbage at the maintenance office few days back.

Apart from the shortage in cleaning staffs, the number of security staffs have also been reduced by the builder. The residents are worried over their security seeing many crime incidents which are rampant in the area.

It all started with the arbitrary increase in the maintenance charges by the builder which residents had vehemently protested. The residents had unanimously opposed the arbitrary increase in the maintenance charges.

City Spidey had earlier talked to the head of the maintenance department, Sidharth Sood, to know about the situation at the society. He stressed on the need to form AOA within the society. He said that if there was an AOA at the society, things would have been smooth.

“As per the RERA, societies need to have AOA with 70 per cent of occupancy. We asked residents to form AOA and take handover of the maintenance because the service provider has refused to continue with the same amount. But, residents are deliberately delaying the election to the AOA. We decided to reduce the services in order to build pressure on residents so that they unanimously decide to form AOA,” Sood concluded.

Golden Palm, Noida: Residents complain of stray terror

Residents of Golden Palm, a high rise society in Sector 168, Noida, are facing stray-dog menace in the society.

There are 12 towers and over 700 flats in this high-rise.

About 400 people have been living in the society for the last two years, and the terror of stray dogs has everybody in its grip. Noida News

Rohit Singh, a resident, said, “There are over 25 stray dogs and dog attacks are frequent. A few dog lovers in the society feed these dogs on the premises — and these dogs now rule this area. We residents feel threatened.”

Children are not allowed to play outside for fear of stray dogs, confirmed another resident, who didn’t want to be named. "Last week, four dogs attacked a child, and he has bitten by them. He had to be rushed to the hospital for treatment,” he added.

The basement has over ten strays and residents are scared of accessing the area.

Noida Authority extends garbage-disposal facilities to 22 more sectors

Soon, expectedly by March 4, Noida Authority will have garbage lifted door-to-door from 22 new sectors.

The sectors include 17,18,19,20,21, 21A, 25,25A , 26,27,28,29,30,31,32,37, 15, 15A,16,55, 56 and Atta Village.

Noida Authority hired an agency for the work and the agency started door-to-door lifting from January 23. This will happen free of cost for the first three months, and thereafter, the agency will charge Rs 30 to Rs 150 per house, depending on the size of the house.

“The agency has further contracted a company for vehicles to pick up waste,” a Noida Authority official said. Noida News

Miffed residents of Gaur City Avenue dump garbage

Annoyed by the absence of trash pickers for the past three days, the residents of the Gaur City 5th Avenue, a high-rise in Greater Noida West, on Wednesday, dumped the garbage of their household at the maintenance office of the society.
Noida News

Besides trash pickers, the maintenance department of the apartment in the last couple of days has partially reduced the number of staff members required for daily services like security, cleaning and other services.

Talking about the issue, Preet Bhargava, a resident said, “There used to be three cleaning staff members for each block which has now been reduced to just one for two blocks. Number of security guards at the gate, for the garden and other places have also been reduced. Two security guards, who were deployed in the park to ensure the security of the children, have also been withdrawn.”

“For how long we will keep the garbage in our flats. I mean we waited for 3 days and when it started stinking, we were left with no option than to dump it at the maintenance office,” Bhargava added.

As per the sources, the conflict emerged over increasing maintenance charges which the residents have unanimously opposed. Earlier, the maintenance department had proposed to increase maintenance charges saying the company which is providing the daily maintenance services is facing loss. However, the residents had opposed the proposal.


As told by the residents to City Spidey, the delay in the formation of the Apartment Owners Association (AOA) is another major conflict between the residents and the developer. One group of the residents wants to form the AOA whereas another group says election for the AOA should be held only after pending developments are completed by the developer.

Pankaj Patel, another resident of the Gaur Avenue said, “We neither have occupation certificates nor completion certificates from the Greater Noida Authority. We are ready to accept it because none of the society in Greater Noida West have so far received completion certificates. But, an audit of electricity bill must be done because if AOA takes power during the summer then residents will face a huge financial burden. Leave aside all these issues, my only question is that how can maintenance services be reduced when maintenance charges are being paid in advance.”

We spoke to Sidharth Sood, head of the maintenance department to know the reason behind the partial withdrawal of daily maintenance services. Sood was of the view that the society has almost 100 per cent possession and around 98 per cent occupancy of flats is at present.

“As per the RERA, societies need to have AOA with 70 per cent of occupancy. We asked residents to form AOA and take handover of the maintenance because the service provider has refused to continue with the same amount. But, residents are deliberately delaying the election to the AOA. We decided to reduce the services in order to build pressure on residents so that they unanimously decide to form AOA,” Sood concluded.

While the residents say that the election process will take time and they are in process to conduct it as soon as possible, the decision to withdraw services has left them in a panic mode. They have unanimously condemned the decision taken by the maintenance department.

Amrapali Village: Residents demand quashing of stray dog killing charges

The controversy surrounding the alleged death of a dog does not seem to settle down at Amrapali Village in Indirapuram. Following the FIR lodged against a resident of the society and RWA’s president, over 200 residents assembled at the Indirapuram police station on Tuesday to demand dropping of charges against them.

Indirapuram News

A resident claimed that the charges of beating a stray dog to death was wrong. The FIR was lodged by People For Animals (PFA) after the complaints of beating a dog ferociously during the attempt to catch it.

On Sunday, the residents and few dog lovers had heated arguments over calling a private dog vehicle to catch stray dogs from the society. The vehicle managed to catch three dogs but in the meantime, volunteers from PFA came and rescued all the dogs.

Meanwhile, as per their claims, PFA people spotted an injured dog lying on the side of the road. They brought the injured dog for the treatment but the dog succumbed to the injuries. PFA had claimed that the dogs were brutally beaten in order to catch them, which RWA and majority of residents had refused. However, they accepted that they called a van to catch the dogs.

“I was present at the scene and saw no dog being beaten up," Mohit, a resident told City Spidey.

Speaking on their counter allegation of filing fake FIR, Sumedha Iyer, president of PFA said that proofs have been submitted to police and the investigation will reveal the truth. “Justice will prevail,” she commented.

As per residents, the move, to call private dog vehicle to catch stray dogs, was taken out of frustration as there were many incidents of dogs attacking the residents. “I am a pet owner, I love dogs but strays had become nuisance for the residents. Last week, a stray bit hand of my daughter when she was downstairs,” said Sonu Malhotra, a resident of the society.

Meanwhile, Iyer said that if a dog has become ferocious, it is job of a designated agency to take care of the situation. Residents should have called PFA rather than taking law in their hands.

Speaking on the matter, Maheshwaran Nair, secretary of the society's RWA told City Spidey that they are pacifying the aggrieved residents of our society. “We have full faith in police administration and Indian judiciary. Truth will come out,” he said.

When asked why PFA was not called to remove dogs from the society, Nair said that RWA was not informed prior to calling the private vehicle. “We came to know only after we received information from PFA that some pet lover has complained to them about the incident,” he said.

As per Supreme Court's ruling in 2016, it is illegal to relocate stray dogs from their territory. As per guidelines of Animal Welfare Board of India, if a stray dog has turned ferocious and becomes a threat, it is job of the Municipal Corporation or designated agency to remove the dog from that area.

PFA was designated by Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam (GNN) to look after the stray dogs in Ghaziabad.

Miffed residents of Gaur City Avenue dump garbage at maintenance office

Annoyed by the absence of trash pickers for the past three days, the residents of the Gaur City 5th Avenue, a high-rise in Greater Noida West, on Wednesday, dumped the garbage of their household at the maintenance office of the society.

Besides trash pickers, the maintenance department of the apartment in the last couple of days has partially reduced the number of staff members required for daily services like security, cleaning and other services.

Talking about the issue, Preet Bhargava, a resident said, “There used to be three cleaning staff members for each block which has now been reduced to just one for two blocks. Number of security guards at the gate, for the garden and other places have also been reduced. Two security guards, who were deployed in the park to ensure the security of the children, have also been withdrawn.”

“For how long we will keep the garbage in our flats. I mean we waited for 3 days and when it started stinking, we were left with no option than to dump it at the maintenance office,” Bhargava added.

As per the sources, the conflict emerged over increasing maintenance charges which the residents have unanimously opposed. Earlier, the maintenance department had proposed to increase maintenance charges saying the company which is providing the daily maintenance services is facing loss. However, the residents had opposed the proposal.

As told by the residents to City Spidey, the delay in the formation of the Apartment Owners Association (AOA) is another major conflict between the residents and the developer. One group of the residents wants to form the AOA whereas another group says election for the AOA should be held only after pending developments are completed by the developer.

Pankaj Patel, another resident of the Gaur Avenue said, “We neither have occupation certificates nor completion certificates from the Greater Noida Authority. We are ready to accept it because none of the society in Greater Noida West have so far received completion certificates. But, an audit of electricity bill must be done because if AOA takes power during the summer then residents will face a huge financial burden. Leave aside all these issues, my only question is that how can maintenance services be reduced when maintenance charges are being paid in advance.”

We spoke to Sidharth Sood, head of the maintenance department to know the reason behind the partial withdrawal of daily maintenance services. Sood was of the view that the society has almost 100 per cent possession and around 98 per cent occupancy of flats is at present.

“As per the RERA, societies need to have AOA with 70 per cent of occupancy. We asked residents to form AOA and take handover of the maintenance because the service provider has refused to continue with the same amount. But, residents are deliberately delaying the election to the AOA. We decided to reduce the services in order to build pressure on residents so that they unanimously decide to form AOA,” Sood concluded.

While the residents say that the election process will take time and they are in process to conduct it as soon as possible, the decision to withdraw services has left them in a panic mode. They have unanimously condemned the decision taken by the maintenance department.

Amrapali Village: FIR against RWA head, resident for killing stray; deny charges

An FIR has been lodged by the People For Animals (PFA) in Indirapuram police station against the president of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA), Deepak Kumar and a resident of Amrapali Village, Swaroop Bhattacharya under Section 429 (Mischief by killing or maiming a cattle or any animal) following a huge quarrel occurred on Sunday over the relocation of few dogs from the society.

Indirapuram News

People For Animals (PFA) is the nodal agency for sterilization, vaccination, and rescue of stray animals in Ghaziabad.

"We received information on Sunday that the residents have called a private vehicle to weed out few dogs from the society, which is illegal as per Supreme Court's ruling," told Sumedha Iyer, president of the PFA

"When we reached there, a van carrying dogs was trying to flee but we got hold of it. What we found was three dogs were captured and one of the dogs was bleeding profusely. He had suffered a serious head injury. We rescued the other two and took the injured one to Sanjay Gandhi hospital. Unfortunately, the dog succumbed to the injury and did not survive," she claimed.

"The person who informed us told that the dogs were brutally beaten up while capturing them by the men who came with a private vehicle," added Iyer.

Meanwhile, RWA admitted that the incident occurred and residents tried to relocate the dogs. However, they denied the death of a dog in the process. Instead, they blamed PFA for misusing its position. "This is completely false. No dog was even hurt during the relocation, forget the death. PFA is trying to entangle us in a legal soup to gain some personal advances," said Deepak Kumar, president of the RWA.

City Spidey spoke to several eyewitnesses including a dog lover who for the whole time, attempted to stop the men from the private vehicle to catch the dogs. Interestingly, nobody saw any dog being hurt or being beaten up by those men. 

"I was the one who confronted the mob hell-bent on relocating the dogs. I fought and argued with everybody. I even tried to physically stop the men who were catching dogs. They did mishandle the dogs in the process but I did not see any dog being beaten up by anyone," told the dog lover on the condition of anonymity.

Sonu Malhotra, a resident of the society, who witnessed and telecasted the whole clash live on Facebook also said that he did not see any dog being beaten up during their catch.

Meanwhile, Iyer claimed that she has footage of the dogs being beaten up and has submitted it to the police. The police told City Spidey that they have gathered the evidence and investigation is underway.

Panchsheel Greens GreNo West: Upcoming AOA elections run into major hurdle

The upcoming elections for Apartment Owners Association (AOA) at Panchsheel Greens, a high-rise in Greater Noida West, have run into a major hurdle. The developer of the society has claimed that the residents who haven’t cleared their maintenance dues wouldn’t be eligible to vote as per the UP Apartment Act and if they do then the election would be declared invalid.

A ten-members committee of residents is all set to conduct election in the society for the first time ever on March 3. However, the builder says that the election results and AOA thereby selected will be invalid.

The residents of Panchsheel Greens have been fighting the builder against charging steep maintenance dues and providing poor services for the past two years. With no solution in sight, a group of residents had stopped paying the maintenance charges.

According to the residents the only solution is to form AOA that works for the welfare of the residents. “The security services provided are not up to the mark. All the other facilities are also poorly managed. There is no way the builder can justify the steep maintenance charges,” said a resident.

The builder has a contrary view. Anuj Chowdhary, director of Panchsheel Group, said, “We are not against resident’s decision to form AOA. In fact, we had only set up the committee to conduct elections. But if some residents do not comply with the rules of UP Apartment Act and choose not to pay the pending charges, the election would be termed invalid.”

Chowdhary said that he has also written to the Greater Noida Authority and District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar to appoint officials overseeing that elections are held in a fair manner.

The maintenance charges are pending from October 2018. “The builder has asked us to pay charges from October 2018 to March 2019 and then only conduct AOA elections,” said a resident who did not want to be named.

Meanwhile, a few residents are also not happy with the selection of candidates. KB Singh, a resident, said, “We all want to form AOA but neither the election committee members nor those contesting elections are sharing their plans for the development of the society in the future. And now, this latest controversy has only added to the confusion.”

Noida Extension: Man accidentally shoots daughter while cleaning the gun

In a tragic incident, a girl was shot in the head after a gun her father was cleaning accidentally went off. The two-year-old girl, Yati Sharma, had been living with her family at Panchsheel Greens in Noida Extension for the past one year. Noida News

The girl died while being treated in Columbia Asia Hospital in Ghaziabad. Ghaziabad News

The incident took place on February 24, when Vikas Sharma, the father, was cleaning his licensed pistol. The girl was playing on the bed in front of Vikas, while the mother was busy in kitchen.

The bullet struck the child in the head, and she was immediately rushed to the hospital.

Raj Kumar Sharma, SHO of Kavi Nagar Police Station, said, “The hospital informed the police on Tuesday. The girl died at 4 am today during the treatment. The body has been sent for autopsy and police is waiting for the report.”  

The postmortem report will be sent to Bisrakh police station, under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred.

Manoj Pathak, SHO of Bisrakh Police Station, said investigation will begin once they are handed over the report.

He added, “In such cases, license of the accused is cancelled and an accidental death FIR is lodged.”

The family has refused to talk to the press.

Noida’s first passport office opens today

In a relief for the residents, Noida's first passport office will be operational from Wednesday. Set up at head post office in Sector 19, the facility will be inaugurated by Union culture and tourism minister Mahesh Sharma. Noida News

The office has been set up under the central government scheme of utilizing all head post offices (HPO) in the country as Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK).

The opening of the facility will save time for the residents of Noida who otherwise had to go to Ghaziabad to avail passport facilities.

All applications related to new passports, corrections, change of address and others will now be handled at Noida POPSK. The applicants will have to take a prior appointment through www.passportindia.gov.in.

One verification officer from Ghaziabad regional passport office will be present at the centre. Two staff from Sector 19 head post office will be deployed full time for document collection and TCS will provide the IT support.

To begin with, five applications have already been accepted for processing on February 27 whereas more than 50 appointments have been booked online for February 28.

The residents welcomed the new facility saying that it will save them the ordeal of going to Ghaziabad for any passport related services. “The minister has delivered on his promise of opening a passport seva kendra in Noida. It will save us energy and time required to travel to another city for getting any sort of passport-related work done,” Vibhor Mishra, a resident said.

To maintain healthy ecosystem, MCG orders plantation of trees mandatory at plots

In a bid to maintain healthy ecosystem, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has made plantation of at least one tree mandatory on the plots measuring 40 square metres and above. It has stated that if that is not followed then the building plans and occupation certificates (OC) will not be issued.

Gurgaon News

This model is a direct adaptation of the Bengaluru civic by-laws 2003 which has the guidelines for number of trees required to be planted according the size of the plots.

As per a report in HT, one tree must be planted on a plot size of 40-200 square metres, two trees on 200-500 square metres plot and three for plots measuring 500-750 square metres.

It was also specified the land owners should also plant same number of trees on the side of the roads which are more than 9 metres wide.

According to the MCG’s senior town planner, Satish Parashar, the order to implement this had come last week and the proposal was approved in a house meeting on July 25 last year. The purpose of this proposal was to increase the green cover in the area.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had also directed to take action in the direction of improving the air pollution in the city.

It has been made mandatory for the owner to submit photographs of the planted trees in order to get OCs. The issuance of OCs will only be done after the inspection of the officials at the plots.

There is also a provision of fine of Rs 1,000 per tree if the owner fails to plant specified number of trees at the plots. The owners will also be given warning to plant trees within the period of one month.

Noida faces a harrowing time with frequent powercuts and no Ganga jal supply

Residents of different residential sectors Noida have been facing water and electricity problems for the last few days. Residents have been forced to consume salty ground water.

Noida News

Sectors 12,22,24,34, 35,36 and several others have been badly impacted.

Noida Authority has failed to supply ganga water to these sectors and they have been left with no option but to buy drinking water from outside.

Dharmendra Sharma, a resident of the Sector 34, said, "We have been consuming ground water for the past few days, as there has been no Ganga water supply to our sector."

Another resident from Sector 22 said, “We haven’t received sufficient supply over the past week. As a result, we have been buying from private water tankers, which are extremely expensive and a burden on us.” 

And daily powercuts have made matters worse.

Shivam Sharma, a resident of Sector 36, said, “We had to bear daily powercuts during the winter, making life difficult as we couldn’t use geysers or room heaters.”

Niho Scottish Garden: Cars damaged as iron scaffolding topples down

As many as 10 cars in Niho Scottish Garden, Indirapuram, were damaged after an iron scaffolding of an under-construction tower fell on them on Monday evening. 

Indirapuram News

The incident happened at around 8.30 pm after Ghaziabad received rainfall followed by gusty winds.

Residents said the structure fell in response to the strong winds that started blowing. 

Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the incident.

Ghaziabad News

The scaffolding was covered with green sheets to contain dust of building materials. "The structure got heavy after the sheets got wet in the rainfall, tilting the whole thing towards the ground. Unable to withstand the pressure of the winds, the scaffolding fell on the cars parked below," said a resident.

The residents who now have damaged cars are furious and expect compensation from the builder.

"We have called a meeting with the builder and victim residents. We will make sure he compensates all," said DK Maurya, president of AOA of the society.

Meanwhile, residents are also worried for their safety.

"What if someone was present at the spot during the incident — it could have proved fatal," a resident said.

Maurya said that keeping in view the safety of the residents, the AOA will ask the builder to stall construction till safety of the residents is ensured.

Gurgaon: DHBVN issues power bills to Ardee City residents after 7 months

In a relief for the residents of Ardee City in Gurgaon, discom DHBVN has started issuing them electricity bills seven months after the society ended builder’s control over its power distribution and switched to the discom.

Gurgaon News

According to a TOI report, the first round of bi-monthly bills was issued to the residents on Saturday. After months of protest, the residents of Ardee City had opted out of builder’s single-point connection and switched to the discom in September last year.

The officials at the discom said that the first lot of bills were issued for September-October 2018 to the residents. The delay of seven months for issuing the bills was justified by the officials on the lengthy process of transfer.

The amount for the first bill was calculated on the basis of average use. The residents will also shave to pay for costs of setting up substation to be adjusted in subsequent bills, said the officials at discom.

Ardee City is home to around 2,100 residents. though most of the residents are happy with the transition, some even expressed concerns that their bills might run into huge sums owing to consolidation.

According to a discom official, the delay in billing happened as they were waiting for all the consumers to install DHBVN meters, as otherwise the process would have been problematic. The transition from a single-point to individual connections is always hectic and needs a lot of things to be taken care of, added the official.

Noida faces a harrowing time with frequent powercuts and no Ganga jal supply

The Town and Country Planning Department has provided an extension to the licensed colonies across the city to build community halls till 2021. Provision of amendments in the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act 1975 has been made in this regard. The extension of the same is expected by next month.

Noida News

With the clearance of Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act ( (amendments and ratifications) on April 3, 2012, all the builders were given 4 years’ time to build community halls following which, the Director General of the Town and Country Planning gave an extension of 2 years more to the builders under special provisions of the Act.

However, the time given to the builders to construct community halls got over on April 3, 2018, but no construction work took place on these sites and builders were just left with the approved building plan.

Thereafter, changes were made in the Act on December 26, 2018, wherein the time period was extended from 2 years to 5 years, with effective from April 1, 2016. Now it will remain effective until April 1, 2021.

If we talk about figures, the construction work in nearly 696 sites out of 1125 (comprising plotted colonies and group housing societies) is yet to take place.

According to the Act, if the builders fail to build the community halls within the given time frame, all their sites will be handed over to the government free of cost. This will allow the govt to develop or allot them to some institutions.

It is mandatory for builders to provide community services and facilities to people like schools, clubs, community centers and hospitals. Some of them, with the fear of govt taking back these sites, constructed buildings and attained the occupancy but failed to provide such facilities. The state of the clubs of DLF Phase 1, 2 is the same. Similarly, Sushant Lok, Sun City, South City 1, 2 and Ardee City are some of the major sites.

The department concerned has provided an extension of 5 years on the basis of fee deposited per year. In the case of hyper potential zones, the fee is Rs 10 lakh per acre per year.

Fire safety mock drill fails due to blocked gate at Galaxy North Avenue 2

In the wake of the repeated fire incidents which have happened in Noida and Greater Noida recently, the residents of Galaxy North Avenue-2, decided to conduct fire safety mock drill. However, the illegal shops, operating just outside the society, prevented the fire brigades to enter into the society. This left the residents angry and agitated.

They informed City Spidey that the fire safety experts, firstly, checked the fire fighting equipments installed within the society. According to the residents, the experts found that the fire fighting cylinders were outdated and empty.

Noida News

“It was shocking to know that almost all fire fighting equipments were outdated. We are heavily dependent on it. We have removed all fire fighting cylinders and have asked the management to replace them with new ones,” said a resident.

As well, the residents had to face another hurdle at the gate. They decided to call a fire brigade to check how much time it takes for fire brigade to reach the spot in case of fire. The fire brigade reached outside the society in quick time but it could not enter the society because the gate was encroached by illegal shopkeepers.

“The society has two gates for coming in and going out. But, one gate remains closed due to permanent encroachment in front of it. When we spoke to the shopkeepers, they said that they have been allowed to run their shops in front of the gate,” a resident said.

“This was just a mock drill. But, imagine what would have happened in the case of fire. We immediately called the local area police and informed about the incident. They said that removing encroachment comes under the jurisdiction of local administration. We have written a letter to Greater Noida Authority requesting them to clear the encroachment outside the gate of the society,” said Manjul Yadav, a resident of the society.  

Residents alleged that these temporary shops have been rented out by shopkeepers of the society and the developer. “The management charges heavy amount for the safety of the residents. We have made several complaints to the management of the society and developer as well. But, nothing has been done,” Yadav added.

Noida holds its 33rd flower show themed around snapdragon

A three-day flower show, which concluded on Sunday evening, was organised by Noida Authority in association with Floriculture Society of Noida. The last day saw several cultural programmes and prize distribution.

The event was held on Ramleela ground, where over 400 species of flowers from different places in Delhi-NCR were put on display. Like in the past years, individuals, private institutions, horticulture societies, and housing societies of Noida and Greater Noida participated in the competition.

Myopic plantations on footpaths turn out to be threat to commuters

 

The plantation and proper upkeep of trees have always been problematic in Dwarka. When City Spidey did a survey of the trees planted on the footpaths, many lacunae came to the fore.

It was found that many trees have been bending towards the road and can fall with strong winds any time. If that happens then it can prove very dangerous to the commuters moving on the road. Moreover, it is very surprising that these trees have yet not been spotted by the authorities. Dwarka News

Besides, the trees, which are there on the footpaths, have been planted in a very haphazard manner. They are planted on the side of the footpaths towards the road leaving very little space for its growth.

As a result, the footpaths are getting damaged by the growth of the trees. The ill-maintenance was very evident as these were also found to be termite affected. Some trees are so affected that it can fall with the force of the wind.

While the authorities have been very short-sighted while planting these trees, they are also careless in maintaining them.

Do watch the video and share your valuable comments.

I’puram man clicks on BHIM App, loses Rs 22,000 after checking notification

In yet another case of cyber fraud, a resident of Indirapuram lost Rs 22,000 from his bank account on Friday after he was conned by a man posing to be a bank staffer.

The victim, Vibhor Rayal, a resident of Shipra Riviera, a high-rise in Gyan Khand II, Indirapuram, got a call from a man posing to be HDFC bank official.  “At around 11:40 am, I received a call from a man who asked me to open BHIM App on my phone in order to credit a refund into my account, which I had earlier requested from the bank," Rayal said. Indirapuram News

“After opening the App, he told me to accept a notification following which the refund I had requested will be credited to my account. However, immediately after I accepted the notification, my account was debited of Rs 22,000 and the call was disconnected. I tried again calling on that number but it was unreachable,” Rayal explained.

On February 13, Rayal had mailed his home branch to discontinue the service of EDC machine (card swipe machine), which he had availed of in February 2018 on a yearly rental of Rs 6,000.

Rayal has a business of delivering health and nutritional supplements. He has a current bank account for his business in Indirapuram branch of HDFC bank.

"On Thursday, a bank staffer named Mohit contacted me and assured me that the process of refund will start soon. He also told me that someone from bank will contact me to take back the EDC machine,” said Rayal. “The man who called me on Friday also gave the reference of Mohit. That is why I didn’t suspect anything wrong.”

Meanwhile, Rayal also complained that the response of the bank after hearing his complaint was ignorant. “They told me that they are already handling a case of cyber crime where a customer was conned of Rs 85 lakhs, so why should they be bothered about a small sum of Rs 22,000,” he said.

The Police has acknowledged the complaint. “We have forwarded the complaint to cyber cell situated at office of SSP, Ghaziabad. They will do the primary investigation, after which further proceedings would take their course," said SHO Indirapuram.

33rd Noida flower show beautifies event; visitors, participants elated

The 33rd annual flower show kick-started at Ramleela ground, opposite Noida stadium on Friday. More than 400 species of flowers are on display with Antirrhinum being the theme flower for the event. noida news

Gurgaon: MCG served notice over illegal dumpyard in Ghata

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has been served a notice by the state pollution control board, HSPCB, over illegal dumping of garbage and construction waste happening near Ghata. A big dumping yard has come up in the area in the past seven months. Gurgaon News

As per a report published in TOI, HSPCB, in its notice, has instructed MCG to immediately take action against those who are felling trees to make space for the dumping yard near the catchment of Ghata lake. The issue is more worrisome as this is an ecologically sensitive area.

The notice states, “The garbage received from Gurugram has been dumped… near village Ghata where labourers are illegally handling municipal solid waste and burning it. It is a gross violation of the directions of National Green Tribunal/ Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) and Municipal Solid Waste Rules, 2016. The garbage and construction waste being dumped illegally at Ghata has resulted in a big dump yard of an area of at least 1 acre or more... (It) is an organised, planned phenomenon happening over the last few months and conveniently ignored and overlooked by MCG, thereby creating a new undesignated, unauthorised, illegal landfill.”

Just a year ago, instead of the dumping yard there used to be a thickly-wooded expanse with over 500 trees and wildlife.

The HSPCB officials told TOI that they will also discuss the issue with EPCA next week. A report of all undesignated waste dumping spots in the city is being prepared by our officials, which will be shared to the authorities. MCG has already been instructed to take action on the matter immediately,” said an official.

Will Noida Authority be able to deliver on its promise of waste remediation?

The most awaited project of Noida Authority for waste remediation was launched in Sector 54 in December last year. The promise? To remove all waste from the two dumping sites at Sectors 54 and 145 within two years.

But have things kept pace? No!

Right now, the remediation plant is treating only 400 tonnes of waste every day, whereas about 80,000 metric tonnes of solid waste is dumped at the site.

At this rate, it will take more than six years to treat all the waste from the area.

The Authority had to stop dumping waste at the site in Sector 54 after an NGT order banned it from doing so. The NGT had, in June 2018, also directed the Authority to clean the stored waste and free up the occupied forest land at the earliest.
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On June 14, 2018, Noida Authority had roped in a private agency, Zigma Global Environ Solutions Private Limited, for the remediation work. According to the contract, the Authority is to pay Rs 1,193 per metric tonne for waste remediation, officials confirmed.

This process is to include packaging, loading, unloading and transportation of the refuse-derived fuel (RDF).

Noida Authority CEO, Alok Tandon, told the media at the time of inauguration that the agency would take six months to complete the remediation of waste at Sector 54. Once the job in Sector 54 is done, the agency would move to Sector 145, where it is storing waste right now.

“Noida produces 600 metric tonnes of waste daily. According to preliminary analysis, 45% of the waste is organic in nature, whereas 25% is recyclable, 25% is inert and around 5% is scrap. If Noida Authority could not meet its own time level than its very difficult to treats the daily waste, which is around 600 metric tonnes,” Shivam Mishra, a resident said.

An official of Noida Authority said that due to shortage of labour at the site, the speed of work has been badly impacted. But they are hiring more ground works to step up work.

Man carrying pistol arrested at Noida Sector 15 metro station, case filed

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials on Saturday arrested a 28-year-old man for carrying a country-made pistol inside a metro station on the Blue line stretch of the Delhi Metro. Noida News

According to police, the accused, identified as Ankit Kumar Singh, was held when the firearm was detected in his bag during its scanning at the Noida Sector 15 metro station. He is a resident of Delhi’s Palam village.

During the interrogation, Singh told officials that he is a final year student of engineering from Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

He further said that he had returned from a wedding in Saharanpur and wanted to board the metro to reach Palam, where he had to attend another wedding. However, the purpose of carrying a pistol was not clear.

"His claims about his age and other details are being verified," said Rajveer Singh Chauhan, in-charge of Sector 20 police station, where the case has been lodged.

"He has been arrested under the Arms Act and would be produced in a court," Chauhan added.

‘Conduct fire safety survey to avoid mishaps in Gurgaon’

In view of the massive fire incidents which took place recently in Noida and Karol Bagh, the Additional Municipal Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), YS Gupta, on Saturday held a meeting with the officials of fire department and directed them to conduct a fire safety survey to avoid such mishaps in the area.
Gurgaon News
He said that new and advanced devices will be provided to the fire fighting teams to combat such incidents. Besides, health check-ups and counselling sessions will be held periodically for the firemen to give them a stress-free environment while working.

Gupta further directed the officials concerned to clear all the files related to fire No Objection Certificate (NOC) in a prompt manner. In addition to this, he stated that proper arrangements should be in place in all the commerical and industrial units.

Chief Medical Officer Brahmadeep Sandhu, Assistant Divisional Fire Officer I S Kashyap, Fire Station Officer Satyavan Samrival and Pankaj Parashar, Additional Fire Station Officers Sukhbir Singh, Narendra Singh, Sunil Kumar, Lalit Kumar and Ramesh Kumar were present during the meeting.

Delhi Police felicitates best secured societies, villages in Dwarka

The Delhi Police on Saturday felicitated four societies for being best secured societies in Dwarka. The awards were given by the Special Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, South, RP Upadhyay at a function held at National Law University. Dwarka News

Managements and RWAs of the societies were honoured in the presence of hundreds of RWAs of the area. The award was given under the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme Promotional Programme by Delhi Police in Dwarka.

Apart from awards for best secured societies and best secured Village, Prahari, Police Mitra and a community person were also honoured with memento for contribution in policing and making efforts in preventing the crime.

DJA (Delhi Journalist Association) Apartments, Sector 13 was given the first position while Welcome CGHS, Sector 3 was given the second position. For the third position, there were two societies as joint winner - Sheetal Vihar Apartments at Sector 23 and Beverly Park at Sector 22.

For best DDA pocket in terms of security, Shubham Apartments Sector 12 in pocket 4 was given the award. Among villages, Dhoolsiras was given the best secured Village award by RP Upadhyay who was the chief guest on the occasion.

Police informed that 227 CGHS out of 351, 43 DDA Pockets out of 52 and all 9 villages in Dwarka District filled their forms for this exercise. A screening committee comprising of 10 members scrutinised all the received forms and selected 25 Societies, 25 DDA Pockets and all 9 villages for security audit.

These team members secretly visited the societies and checked the ground reality and how the security system was functioning there. After completing this whole exercise, the decisions were made for giving the awards.

After the felicitation of the societies, Special CP, e-Inaugurated the “Neighbourhood Watch Scheme” in three societies - “Jaypee CGHS, (Beverly Park) Plot No. 2, Sector 22, Dwarka”, “Dharam CGHS Ltd., Plot No. 18, Sector 18A, Dwarka” and  “Sukh Sagar Apartments, Plot No 12, Sector 9, Dwarka.”

Addressing the gathering, Upadhyay said that community involvement in policing was the need of hour and the participation by the RWA, social organisations and individuals to support the policing was appreciable in Dwarka.

He praised the community and police bonding in the area and the experiments in this regard under the guidance of DCP Anto Alphonse and supervision of ACP Rajender Singh in Dwarka.

On the occasion Joint CP, Western Range, Madhup Tiwari and other officials from the area including DCP Dwarka, Anto Alphonse were present.

Gurgaon: Residents of Mahindra Aura show the way in waste management

Waste management is need of the hour and residents of Mahindra Aura, a high-rise in Gurgaon’s Sector 110, are well aware of it.

Their collective initiative to convert kitchen waste as compost and keeping the building premises clean and green in the past two years has set a perfect example of waste management to other societies in the vicinity.

Credit goes to the managing committee of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) which played a crucial role in introducing the waste management system in the society. Gurgaon News

While talking to City Spidey about the system, Yashesh Yadav, president of the society said, “We have placed three dustbins with three different colours on each floor having four flats – Green, Blue and Black. Following the given instructions, residents throw their daily generated waste into separate dustbins. Sometimes, we get it segregated after collecting it. Wet waste, comprising kitchen waste, is used as manure. Besides, we have organic waste converter too.”                                                       

Apart from this, the society has set up a system to recycle daily used water too. “The water used for kitchen and other purposes gets stored in a tank and then goes to the water treatment plant which has been installed in the society. After treating it, we use the water for gardening,” Yadav said.

Chhavi Lal, who looks after the management, told us the society has a team that works every day to run the waste management system and also maintain the greenery on the premises.

Nearly 600 families reside in society.

Jaipuria Sunrise Greens gifts playground to tiny tots living in society

The Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of Jaipuria Sunrise Greens, a high rise society in Indirapuram, on Sunday presented a gift to more than 500 children to celebrate their childhood in best possible way.

The society inaugurated a playground which was renovated after more than a decade for the small children of the society.

“Although RWA inaugurated it, we invited all the kids as chief guests today,” Suman Pal, president of the RWA said laughingly.
Indirapuram News
“The rides were outdated and rusty as well. It discouraged the kids to play here. We thought to renovate it so that their childhood remains awesome as they get to play inside the society,” Pal said.

Speaking further on the latest addition to the society, Pal said that the renovated park is equipped with latest rides like multi station, swings, merry-go-round, see-saw and spring rider to keep the kids excited.

“Also, we have laid down rubberised mats on the ground to prevent injuries after falling on the floor,” Pal told.

Meanwhile, kids seemed extremely excited and joyous. After throwing the playground open, as many as 200 kids stormed the area as if they were eagerly waiting for it to open.

“We all witnessed our children smiling with apparent joy and happiness on their faces after receiving a hygienic playground with new rides. Their excitement and laughter will always be in tact in our memories. The RWA is honored to have made this a reality,” said an emotional Pal.

GST rate on under-construction properties slashed to 5 per cent

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday announced a big relief to home buyers by slashing tax rates on under-construction properties to 5 per cent from the existing 12 per cent.

Current 8 per cent GST rates on affordable housing was also significantly brought down to 1 per cent. It was a big encouragement for affordable housing to flats costing up to 45 lakh and measuring 60 sq metre in metros and 90 sq metre in non-metro cities.

As per the information, the new rates will be effective from April 1, 2019.

At present, there is a provision of 12 per cent GST on the under-construction properties or ready-to-move flats where completion certificates have not been issued.

Also, under the new GST rates, the builder will not be allowed to claim input tax credit (ITC). GST News

While addressing a press conference, Jaitley said that the decision to reduce the GST will certainly give boost to the construction sector.

It is to be noted that there is no GST on properties which have already been issued completion certificates.

Noida man duped of Rs 1.6 lakh by ‘Facebook friend’ posing as UK national

 

A man was allegedly duped of Rs 1.6 lakh by an unidentified woman who befriended him on social networking site Facebook while posing as a UK national. The man, identified as Vikas Kumar, is a resident of Amrapali Sapphire, a high-rise in Noida’s Sector 45.

According to the police, Vikas Kumar works in an MNC. “A few months back, Kumar had received a friend request from a woman identifying herself as Sara Williams on Facebook. Soon they exchanged mobile numbers and started talking,” police said.
Noida News
On February 5, the woman told Kumar that she is coming to India to meet him on February 13 so that they can celebrate Valentine’s Day together. To win his trust, she even shared her flight tickets with Kumar on WhatsApp.

Kumar received a call from her on February 12. The woman told him that she has been detained by customs officer at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai over some visa trouble. She told Kumar that she needs money to get out of the situation.

She told Kumar that she has around 50,000 pounds with her (equivalent to about Rs 4.6 lakh) but the officers are asking her to pay in Indian currency or make a bank transfer.

Kumar believed her and transferred Rs 1.6 lakh in total in two different accounts. After this, the woman switched off her mobile and never contacted Vikas again.

Kumar soon realized that he has been conned and contacted the police.

Uday Pratap Singh, SHO of Sector 39 police station, said that on the basis of his complaint, the police has lodged an FIR against an unknown person under the IPC Section of 420 (cheating).

Noida: Sector 51 RWA carries out cleanliness drive in the area

The residents of Noida’s Sector 51 and members of RWA carried out cleanliness and anti-encroachment drives in their area on Sunday evening.

The residents cleaned the roads and cleared the garbage from children's park in the area. Calling the drive a ‘huge success,’ the residents said that they even met many people on the occasion and made them understand the need to keep the surroundings clean just like they clean their own houses.
Noida News

Along with the help of police, the RWA also carried out an anti-encroachment drive against hawkers who operate stalls near VDS market and other places in Sector 51. The residents said that these hawkers not only take away a huge chunk of footpaths and roads but also litter the entire area as they cook food there.

The drive was attended by Sunil Kumar of police department with PCR-16 from Sector-51 chowki. Kumar assured that action would be taken against these hawkers if the situation arises again, said the residents.

“We are grateful for the support given by the police department to keep the area free of encroachment,” said a resident.

Sanjeev Kumar, general secretary of RWA, said, “One of the biggest issues of the area is the illegal parking of buses in vacant plots. A drive was carried out against the offenders at night by chowki in-charge of Sector-51 police station. Buses parked illegally were issued challans. We hope that if the same situation arises in the future, the police will deal with it strictly.”

“Over 15 buses were issued challans for wrong parking. The roads in the sector are meant to be used by the residents and can’t be taken up for parking. We also removed several food kiosks from the area which were creating nuisance for the residents,” the police said.

Residents fume over unending delay in supply of Ganga water to GreNo West

Availability of potable water has been an issue in Greater Noida West for a long time. It is the place where high rises have mushroomed too fast and the authorities have failed to provide potable water to the residents.

The residents have no other option but to rely on the hard ground water for drinking purposes which is not advisable. It is saline in nature and not healthy to consume. The high density of population, which lives at the Greater Noida West, have been complaining about this regularly without any development in this regard.

There was a hope that Ganga water will be supplied to these high rises. People were very optimistic about it. But, the project to create infrastructure to supply Ganga water has missed several deadlines in the past.

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The project cost was around Rs 300 crore and it was started in 2010. The initial deadline to complete the project was 2013. But, it has kept on missing the deadlines ever since then. Two deadlines were missed in the last year. The last one was in October last year.

So, the probability of getting the Ganga water in near future is very low. Meanwhile, the residents want clarity from the authorities when they are going to get Ganga water. They have talked to authorities several times but no clarity has been given by them.

“Approximately 30,000 families are presently living in the Greater Noida West which is nearly 10 per cent of the available flats in the area. Imagine the situation when all the flats will be occupied. All these people are struggling with the issue of potable water. The authorities should expedite the process of providing Ganga water as soon as possible,” said Sumil Jalota, a resident of La Residentia.

As far as the plan goes, the authority aims to supply 100 per cent Ganga water without having groundwater. The authority has plans to provide Ganga water in different phases.

If it becomes possible then the residents will be very relieved as they are struggling with hard ground water. They often complain about the purification of the water that they are getting. They said that they have no information about the purification of hard ground water.

At some places, people have complained about presence of maggots in the supplied water. Recently, a resident of La Residentia, saw maggots in wash basin when he was brushing his teeth in the morning. He escalated the matter to everyone concerned but they are not sure whether this will stop soon.

“We heard about laying of pipelines for supply of Ganga water and construction of water treatment plant in Greater Noida. But, we are yet to know when we are going to get the Ganga water. Authorities should try to provide Ganga water at the earliest as we are struggling with the present supply of water,” said Manish Kumar, a resident of Arihant Arden.

City Spidey tried to contact officials of the Noida Authority but they did not respond to our calls and messages.

Noida: Woman duped of Rs 65,000 on pretext of helping Pulwama martyrs’ families

A woman was duped of Rs 65,000 by a man in Noida on the pretext of making a donation for the families of soldiers martyred in Pulwama attack. The victim filed a police complaint on Thursday.

According to police, the victim, identified as Arti Kandpal, lives in a rented accommodation in Sector 22. She works in a private firm in Sector 63 and is originally from Uttarakhand. Noida News

In her complaint, Arti said that she had received a phone call from a person who introduced himself as Mohit. The accused told her that he was collecting money for the families of martyred soldiers in Pulwama attack along with some more people. He asked Arti to donate funds for the good cause. Arti agreed to donate Rs 2,000.

“After this, Mohit asked Arti to share information about debit card and account details. He even asked her to share the OTP (One Time Password) received from the bank,” the complaint states.

“As soon as she shared the details, Arti received two messages suggesting that a withdrawal of Rs 65,000 was done from her account,” she states in her complaint. Apartment Management Software

Mithilesh Upadhaya, SHO of Sector 24 Police Station said that on the basis of the complaint received from the victim, they have lodged an FIR under IT act. The complaint will be referred to cyber cell for further investigation.