Noida orders real estate developers to make project surroundings safe for public

Noida Authority’s civil department along with the traffic cell staff conducted the site inspections and identified these spots, said officials

Noida In the wake of the death of techie Yuvraj Mehta, the Noida authority has identified 65 road safety black spots in the city where basic safeguards are missing and remedial measures are urgently required keeping in mind the safety of general public.

The drive was initiated after concerns were raised over waterlogged plots, open basements and poorly secured construction sites located dangerously close to busy roads, said officials. (HT Archive)

The authority’s civil department along with the traffic cell staff conducted the site inspections and identified these spots, said officials.

The drive was initiated after concerns were raised over waterlogged plots, open basements and poorly secured construction sites located dangerously close to busy roads, said officials.

“A majority of the identified locations are linked to private developers. These sites were found to be lacking essential safety features such as barricades, warning signage, reflectors and proper road design. The authority will issue notices to the developers concerned, giving them three to five days to carry out corrective measures. There will be no leniency and the realtors who fail to comply within the stipulated timeframe will face heavy penalties,” said a senior official requesting anonymity.

At the remaining locations, where responsibility lies directly with the authority, safety improvement works will be undertaken by Noida Authority itself.

“These stretches will be fitted with guardrails, road signage, lane markings, streetlights and other necessary infrastructure on a priority basis to minimise the risk of accidents,” said same official.

The authority has also decided to address drainage-related issues that came into sharp focus following the incident, said officials.

Plans are underway to strengthen drainage systems and sump wells in 20 villages across Noida, said officials.

Projects in seven villages have already received approval, while proposals for the remaining villages are under various stages of processing, said officials.

Officials acknowledged that waterlogging has emerged as a major contributor to road accidents and vehicle mishaps in recent years.

In addition, a comprehensive drainage survey of the entire city will be carried out to identify weak links, overflow zones and chronic waterlogging hotspots. The aim is to identify risks in advance and fix them, rather than responding after a tragedy, said officials.

Across Noida, deep excavations on residential and commercial plots have been lying unattended for years, posing serious safety hazards along several major roads.

One of the most dangerous stretches is on Shivalik Marg near the Sector 32 Metro station, where the ground suddenly drops into a gorge-like pit, said the authority survey.

Barricades meant to prevent vehicles from veering off have collapsed, while temporary metal sheets used as barriers are bent or displaced, leaving wide gaps along the road edge, said survey.

The pit, estimated to be 80–100 feet deep, is overgrown with vegetation and strewn with construction debris and half-built pillars, making the stretch particularly hazardous at night and during low visibility, said survey.

Another risky spot lies near the Janpath Marg roundabout, just few metres from the Sector 85 police chowki, where a vacant plot remains waterlogged and choked with hyacinth and sewage fed by runoff from an open roadside drain. Similar conditions prevail in Sector 150 near Tata Eureka Park, where several construction sites were abandoned after the authority halted approvals of revised layout plans in 2021 following a Comptroller and Auditor General report flagging irregularities. Since then, many excavated plots have remained exposed, turning them into potential death traps, said survey.