Residents seek action after garbage set afire in Sector 63

Noida: Residents of Bahlolpur village have demanded strict action against dumping of solid waste on the roadside at Sector 63, after unidentified miscreants set fire to a pile of trash lying near the Hanuman Mandir on Wednesday

Noida: Residents of Bahlolpur village have demanded strict action against dumping of solid waste on the roadside at Sector 63, after unidentified miscreants set fire to a pile of trash lying near the Hanuman Mandir on Wednesday. According to residents, the blaze burnt some trees in the premises and produced a lot of smoke, affecting the people in the village nearby.

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Residents said that while the Noida authority collects solid waste from Bahlolpur village and other residential areas in the neighbourhood, illegal garbage dumping continues along the road connecting Sector 63 and Parthala circle. They added that the roadside, which was supposed to be maintained as a green belt, had several pits where scrap dealers and factories located nearby allegedly dumpe waste and later set it afire.

“In August last year, a massive plantation drive was undertaken on the same road, which already had a few trees. However, there is no trace of the saplings now. Even the trees are half-burnt due to continual dumping and burning of garbage. We have been complaining for months but no action has been taken so far,” said Sonu Yadav, vice-president of Bahlolpur Resident Welfare Association (RWA), Sector 63.

He added residents had to call fire tenders to douse the blaze on Wednesday.

“Smoke from the fire not only choked people living in nearby houses but also damaged green cover in the area. What was supposed to be a green belt has now turned into a spot that reeks of garbage. None of the saplings that were planted in August last year have survived,” said Paramveer Sing, president of Bahlolpur RWA.

In the past, the health department of the Noida authority has advocated for more awareness to control such fires.

When contacted, officials at the Noida authority said they will look into the matter.

“We inspect the area to ensure that solid waste is not dumped anywhere, but these days people tend to set afire dried up leaves. However, we are not aware of the recent incident but will get the spots checked and if there had been illegal dumping, remove it,” said IP Singh, officer on special duty, health, Noida authority.

Officials of the horticulture department of the authority, meanwhile, claimed that the saplings were in good condition.

“We have been maintaining all roadside saplings in the area, however, if there had been any incident or report of the plants being damaged, we will look into it,” said Mahendra Prakash, deputy director, horticulture department, Noida authority.

Noida generates around 700 tonnes of domestic waste daily. The door-to-door garbage collection service run by the authority covers 1,40,000 apartments across 220 high-rise buildings, about 98 RWAs having 40,000 houses and about 70 small and big villages within the city, said officials. After collection, the garbage goes to 21 different ‘transfer stations’ of the authority where waste is segregated manually by ragpickers and later sent to the main storage facility at Sector 145. However, the menace of roadside dumping of waste still persists in the city.