Noida authority to form a dedicated municipal wing

The Noida authority has decided to form a separate dedicated wing to look after municipal services which include sewage, solid waste management, water, streets and health department among others.

The Noida authority has decided to form a separate dedicated wing to look after municipal services which include sewage, solid waste management, water, streets and health department among others.

Noida, spread over 20,000 hectare between Yamuna and Hindon rivers, has grown into a residential town with 47 per cent of area for residential purpose and 13 per cent for industries. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The UP government had in 1976 established New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) a well-planned industrial town under UP industrial area development Act-1976. Noida had the mandate to acquire agricultural land from farmers to develop infrastructure including roads, drainage, parks and other facilities for setting up industries.

Noida, spread over 20,000 hectare between Yamuna and Hindon rivers, however, grew into a residential town with 47 per cent of area for residential purpose and 13 per cent for industries.

“We are not functioning in a manner in which we should function when it comes to providing quality municipal services,” said Alok Sinha, principal secretary for UP industrial development department and chairman of the Noida authority.

The UP government will appoint an additional chief executive officer (ACEO), who will head the municipal wing in Noida.

“We have given in-principal approval for a dedicated municipal wing formation. We will soon have a meeting to finalise the staff,” said Amit Mohan Prasad the Noida authority chief executive officer.

The Uttar Pradesh government had in 2001 inserted a section, 12-A, into UP Industrial Areas Development Act, 1976 paving way for formation of a separate administrative wing that would deal with municipal work, said officials at the Noida authority. However, due to legal issues the separate municipal wing is now being formed in 2017, they added.

Noida houses a total of 82 villages and 168 urban sectors. Since the industrial act came into effect in Noida, panchayat system that used to govern rural areas has ceased to exist.

“The municipal wing will work for both urban and rural areas and work to make a clean and better Noida,” said another Noida authority official.