Residents, Ghaziabad authority lock horns over ‘bribe’ for sewer cleaning
Indirapuram residents have accused GDA’s cleaning staff of demanding bribe for cleaning sewers
Office bearers of the Federation of apartment owners’ association (FED-AOA) and officials of the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) got into a spat over the issue of sewage backflow in Indirapuram highrises. The residents even accused the cleaning staff of demanding money for cleaning works.
A delegation of FED-AOA on Thursday reached the GDA vice-chairman’s office to complain about alleged bribe being charged from them by the sanitation staff and the area’s sewerage issues still remaining pending.
“When we told officials about it, they were infuriated and did not reply properly. We told them that around 25 highrises were forced to pay around Rs10,000 to super sucker machine cleaning staff every time the want to get the sewers cleaned. The amount is not justified, but we are forced to pay,” said DK Maurya, president of FED-AOA.
“When GDA vice-chairman called up the executive engineer Chakresh Jain for an explanation, he was defiant and did not respond properly. So, we left the office. We will approach senior officials soon. Our issue of sewerage cleaning and widening of sewer lines is still pending despite a high court order,” he added.
The association had moved a PIL that was disposed of by the court last year, stating that the issue should be resolved by GDA, the respondent. Later, FED-AOA and GDA officials also held meetings to discuss the issue.
“In areas of Ahimsa Khand, the developers had laid the sewer lines that should have been laid by the GDA as per proper specification. The existing lines are overburdened and need cleaning regularly. This results in sewage backflow in flats. We are forced to shell out money every time and still the issue persists,” said Alok Kumar, patron, FED-AOA.
However, Jain said any amount paid by highrises was not called for and should have been brought to the knowledge of GDA officials earlier.
“When we asked them why they pay any such amount, they had no answer and left the office. They were not in a mood to discuss the issue further. They never told us or complained about any money being paid to the cleaning staff. The consultancy firm for sewer works was selected before elections, but work orders were pending due to the election code of conduct in place. So, the work could not be expedited,” he said.
“On Thursday, state officials asked us to hold all new works till the formation of a new government. This will further cause a delay as we are bound by the orders,” Jain added.