Chorus grows for public transport services in Greater Noida West

Several representations to the UP government have failed to move authorities. Residents said a safe public transport system that will be affordable for all sections of the society and ply to all the housing projects is the need of the hour.

The lack of public transport facilities in Greater Noida west, that is a hub of affordable housing, makes commuting a harrowing experience for residents as they have to depend on private vehicles and unruly autorickshaw drivers, most of whom refuse to take them to their desired destinations.

Greater Noida west residents have to depend on private vehicles and unruly autorickshaw drivers, most of whom refuse to take them to their desired destinations.

Several representations to the UP government have failed to move authorities. Residents said a safe public transport system that will be affordable for all sections of the society and ply to all the housing projects is the need of the hour.

“There is no public transport service in Greater Noida west, which is home to at least 4 lakh housing units. We have demanded public transport facilities in meetings with officials and also written to top authorities, but nothing happened. Autorickshaw drivers demand ₹150-200 for a distance of 5km and most of us cannot afford private vehicles,” said Anita Prajapati, a resident of Gaur City of Greater Noida West.

“In the absence of zero public transport facilities, travelling from one sector or group housing to another is a daily struggle in this area. All sections — be it domestic helps, school or college going students, elders and many others — have no alternative other than depending on unruly autorickshaw drivers, who refuse to go to all the areas. We recently demanded from the Greater Noida CEO to make sure all areas are covered by the public transport system,” said Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension flat owners’ welfare association, who has written to the UP government and other officials demanding public transport services.

Spread on an area of about 4,000 hectares and home to many housing groups, the Metro connectivity in Greater Noida West is a distant dream as the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), that has been entrusted the responsibility of building the Metro project here, is yet to hire an agency. The nearest Metro station from Greater Noida West’s sector 1 or Gaur City is the one at Noida’s Sector 51.

“To travel from Gaur City to Sector 51 metro station of the Blue Line, autorickshaws throw tantrums and demand exorbitant fares. Daily office goers and other commuters have no choice but to travel in autorickshaws,” said Rani Mahajan, a resident of sector Techzone-IV in Greater Noida West.

Earlier, the NMRC was running a city bus service with 50 air-conditioned buses on 21 routes covering Noida and some parts of Greater Noida West. However, the buses plied only to a few main roads.

“We have communicated the need for a public transport system in Greater Noida West to the NMRC, which has the mandate to run this service. We hope that the NMRC will soon address this issue,” said Narendra Bhooshan, CEO of the Greater Noida authority.

“We had to stop the bus service in February last year because of issues with the contractor, whose work order was terminated. Now, the service will be restarted only after a new agency is hired. The decision to hire a new agency has been delayed because of the Covid-19 outbreak,” said Gopal Sharma, an officer on special duty, NMRC.