Does Noida need a municipal body? Panel set up to look into need for one

The Noida authority has been drawing flak from resident’s welfare associations and the district magistrate for not being able to perform civic duties in an efficient manner.

A committee has been set up under the leadership of the divisional commissioner (Meerut) Prabhat Kumar to analyse the municipal work in Gautam Budh Nagar.

The DM, in his letter, had clearly said that during an inspection, he found out that the Noida authority has failed to clean the drainage system. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

The report to be submitted by Kumar will suggest whether there is a requirement for a separate municipal corporation in the district or not.

Details on the other members of the committee have not been released and a notification in this regard is likely within a week, Noida authority officials said.

The Noida authority has been drawing flak from resident’s welfare associations and the district magistrate for not being able to perform civic duties in an efficient manner.

District Magistrate BN Singh had written to the state urban development minister Suresh Khanna highlighting alleged shortcomings of the Noida agencies in handling civic responsibilities.

The DM, in his letter, had clearly said that during an inspection, he found out that the Noida authority has failed to clean the drainage system.

He had also mentioned that the slum areas are in a bad shape.

Encroachment on the sides of the road was also mentioned as the failure of authority. People defecating in open was also a matter of concern in the letter.

Singh had said that the Noida authority has failed in the upkeep of the city as it also had to handle several other responsibilities such as industrial development.

Following the criticism, chief executive officer (CEO), Noida authority, Alok Tondon took a serious note of the issue and assigned the complete responsibility of municipal work to additional chief executive officer (ACEO) RK Mishra.

Earlier, too, Mishra was looking after the municipal work but he had other responsibilities as well.

Now the ACEO will now only be focusing on municipal work. Issues such as parking was previously handled by another department of the authority but from now on, it will come under Mishra’s supervision.

“We have given all responsibility related to municipal work to a dedicated ACEO in order to make him a centre point. Previously, he had other responsibilities also. Now, we have added all the possible municipal work to his portfolio,” Tondon said.

Tondon confirmed that a committee has been formed to analyse the municipal work in the district.

“The committee will be analysing the municipal work to decide whether there is a requirement for a separate municipal body or not. We are trying our level best to come up with every possible measure to ensure better municipal functioning,” he said.

When asked about the criticism by the DM and the suggestion of having a separate municipal body, Tondon said, “When the authority was founded, municipal work was an important part of it. To create a separate municipal body, the state government will have to come up with a proper Act and/or amendments. I believe the authority is capable of handling this work, but the final decision will be of the government.”

The issue of having a separate municipal body was raised in a recent builder-buyer meeting in Delhi featuring state industries minister Satish Mahana, urban housing minister Suresh Khanna, cane development and sugar mills minister Suresh Rana, BN Singh and other officials of the Noida authority.

It was after this meeting that it was decided that a committee would be set up to study the need for a separate municipal body.

RK Mishra was not available for comment.