‘Water courts’ to address billing issues to come up in Greater Noida

GREATER NOIDA: The Greater Noida industrial development authority (GNIDA) on Saturday said it will set up ‘water courts’ in each sector, wherein residents can approach

GREATER NOIDA: The Greater Noida industrial development authority (GNIDA) on Saturday said it will set up ‘water courts’ in each sector, wherein residents can approach an official tasked to solve their grievances related to water bills. The move comes after residents filed complaints that their water bill-related issues were not being addressed.

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“We have decided to send a team of officials to each sector so that grievances of residents can be addressed right there. The motive is that the residents do not need to visit the authority to get their water bill issues resolved,” said Narendra Bhooshan, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Greater Noida authority.

Singh has directed the additional CEO, Deep Chandar, and water department staff to visit one sector every week and set up a ‘water court’ where residents can come, discuss and resolve their issues.

The team of officials will select one sector on a weekly basis and be present at the ‘water court’ from 10am to 12pm. The ‘water court’ may also be organised at the ground floor hall of the authority’s administrative office located in Sector Knowledge Park-IV.

Residents, meanwhile, said that apart from the issue of exorbitant water bills, the authority issued bills without delivering quality water to households.

“The authority is supplying muddy water and the pipelines have leakages. Despite repeated complaints, the authority staff do not address complaints on time. The authority has no right to collect water charges unless they start supplying water,” said Harendra Bhati, founder member of Active Citizen Team (ACT), a citizens’ collective, and a resident of Sector Beta I.

As per official estimates, Greater Noida at present needs 210 million litres water daily (MLD) for its population of around 12 lakh.

“The water pressure remains erratic in our sector, and residents have been suffering for a long time. We hope the authority will look into this issue,” said Alok Singh, another founder member of ACT and a resident of Sector Alpha I.

GNIDA said it will address all issues related with water supply.