Noida: Residents suffer as Sector 63 park turns into dump yard

Noida: Residents of Bahlolpur colony in Sector 63 have alleged that the area’s only park has become a garbage dumping site due to apathy of the Noida authority. The residents said that garbage is also dumped at different spots along roadside.

They also stated that the garbage is often set afire, and that despite several complaints, the issue persists.

“The entire park, along with several road stretches such as near Bahlolpur underpass, Chijarsi road, Pushta road to count a few, are hardly ever cleaned and over the time have been converted into a dump yard. There are no dustbins and some miscreants often set the garbage at the roadside on fire. We are suffering the mismanagement by the authority that seldom collects the garbage,” said Sonu Yadav, vice-president of Bahlolpur RWA, Sector 63.

He added that while the children’s play area in the park is full of solid waste, the rising stink from the park dissuades parents from sending their wards to the park.

“The wind often carries foul smell from the garbage in the park or on roadside to our houses. The condition is very unhygienic. There used to be some big dustbins in the park, but most of them were removed. The authority’s sanitation workers do come daily to collect waste from houses, but nobody comes to remove the garbage from the roadsides,” said Paramveer Singh, president of Bahlolpur RWA.

Another resident stated that despite several complaints no action had been taken. “There are a number of makeshift colonies in the region, mostly occupied by scrap dealers. They throw the waste on their wish and often set it afire,” said Ranbir Singh, a resident of sector 63.

According to Noida authority officials, the garbage collection is happening from each area, but a number of residents especially the villagers in several colonies do improper disposal.

“We will get the area cleaned in the next three days and ensure that solid waste is removed from all such spots, including the park. But there are also issues such as lack of awareness. A number of residents, especially the tenants in the colonies, often throw garbage as per their convenience, and many do this to save ₹50 that is charged every month for door-to-door collection,” said IP Singh, officer on special duty (health), Noida authority.

Noida generates around 700 tonnes of domestic waste daily. The door-to-door garbage collection covers 220 high-rises with 1,40,000 apartments, about 98 RWAs having 40,000 houses and about 70 small and big villages within the city, the officials said. After collection, the garbage goes to 21 different ‘transfer stations’ of the Noida authority where the unsegregated is separated manually with help of ragpickers and later sent to the main storage facility at Sector 145.