Noida residents demand immediate cleaning of Irrigation drain

The Irrigation drain begins in Ashok Nagar in Delhi and merges with the Yamuna river near Sector 168 after passing through multiple residential sectors in Noida taking along sewage that many smaller drains empty into it.

Irked with the solid waste and silt accumulated in the Irrigation drain, several residents in the city have asked the Noida authority to de-silt the entire drain immediately. They claimed the authority had not cleaned the Irrigation drain—which carries most of Noida’s sewage and wastewater— on time leaving many residential areas prone to the risk of being waterlogged amid monsoon.

Residents said the drain, which was initially set up a few decades ago to provide water for irrigation in the region—should have been cleaned much ahead of monsoon when the risk of water-borne diseases is higher. (Sunil Ghosh/HT file photo)

The Irrigation drain begins in Ashok Nagar in Delhi and merges with the Yamuna river near Sector 168 after passing through multiple residential sectors in Noida taking along sewage that many smaller drains empty into it.

“The drain is full of plastic waste and silt because the Noida authority did not carry out de-silting work on time. The waste accumulated in the drain can lead to waterlogging in many residential areas that include Sector 11, 34, 35, and 51 among others. On Saturday, we filed a complaint with the Noida authority demanding the de-silting of this drain and the authority should de-silt it on a priority basis,” said NP Singh, president, Gautam Budh Nagar district residents’ welfare association (DDRWA), an umbrella body of city’s RWAs.

Residents said the drain, which was initially set up a few decades ago to provide water for irrigation in the region—should have been cleaned much ahead of monsoon when the risk of water-borne diseases is higher.

“Many vendors, private establishments among other dump waste into the drain and the foul smell that emanates from it subsequently troubles the residents who live in sectors located along the drain. The stench is so strong that we have to keep the windows in our homes shut at all times. In the rainy season, when the risk of water-borne disease is high, the authority should have kept this drain clean. The authority should also install barriers, which can trap the waste material including plastic, over the drain to keep the water channel clean,” said Sanjiv Kumar, general secretary, Sector 51 residents’ welfare association (RWA).

The Noida authority officials said that the de-silting of city drains had got delayed due to the coronavirus disease pandemic, but has started now. The authority had started de-silting of drains— 75 main drains and 44 small drains —on June 9 and had set a June-end deadline to finish the job.

“We could not de-silt all small and big drains by the June-end deadline due to the pandemic. The de-silting of the Irrigation drain was also delayed as the tendering process was pushed back. But now all the process is over and the cleaning work has started. We have set a target of finishing the de-silting work within the next two days. No drains should be waterlogged as we are de-silting all drains properly,” said SC Mishra, senior project engineer, Noida authority and head of the health department.