Noida to fine those dumping waste in drains

The CEO’s direction came while conducting an inspection of drains on Wednesday. He started the inspection around 9.45am and ended the drive around 12.15pm.

The Noida authority’s chief executive officer (CEO) Alok Tandon on Wednesday directed the health department to penalise those who are found throwing waste into drains.

Residents have also repeatedly complained of problems due to dumping of waste in drains as these tend to overflow during the monsoon as the drains remained choked with plastic and other waste. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT FILE PHOTO)

The CEO’s direction came while conducting an inspection of drains on Wednesday. He started the inspection around 9.45am and ended the drive around 12.15pm.

Officials said that choked drains cause health problems to residents and the authority struggles to ensure that the city drains remain clean. There are a total of 14 drains in the city and officials found that the longest drain — 17km-long irrigation drain that cuts the city into two — is also choked.

The 13 smaller drains empty the city’s sewage and filth into the irrigation drain. The irrigation drain originates from Delhi’s Ashok Nagar and merges into the Yamuna at Sector 168.

“The CEO asked the staff to impose a heavy penalty after he found that people dump waste into the drain that flows through Harola, sectors 2, 3, 4, Nithari, 34, 35 and Hoshiyarpur, among other areas. During the inspection, the CEO found out that the drains in Harola and Nithari were choked with plastic bags, silt and other kinds of waste. Following the directions of the CEO, we will depute guards at some points to identify people who are dumping waste into drains,” Raghunandan Yadav, senior project engineer of the Noida authority, said.

The authority can impose a fine ranging from Rs500 to Rs5,000 on violators for causing sanitation issues by dumping waste into drains that are meant to carry only rainwater.

Residents have also repeatedly complained of problems due to dumping of waste in drains as these tend to overflow during the monsoon as the drains remained choked with plastic and other waste.

The CEO started the inspection at Harola and visited Nithari and Hoshiyarpur later. He decided to conduct an inspection because he wanted to check if the cleanliness drive is going on properly.

Tandon was unhappy with the health department because he found filth and waste lying at many places during his inspection.

“We will strictly impose a penalty so that waste is not thrown into drains. Residents should also support us by not throwing waste into drains or at undesignated places,” Yadav said.