With cleaning of Ganga canal underway, Noida residents complain of erratic water supply

Residents of several areas in the city have complained of erratic water supply due to the month-long cleaning drive of the Upper Ganga Canal, which is responsible

Residents of several areas in the city have complained of erratic water supply due to the month-long cleaning drive of the Upper Ganga Canal, which is responsible for supplying water to the city. Residents have demanded that the cleaning activity should be delayed for a month, at least till the end of the festive season. Last year too, the city residents faced water shortage before Diwali, during the annual cleaning drive of the canal.

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The Ganga Canal cleaning started on October 15 and it is expected to be completed by November 15 this year. Residents said that if the water crisis continues they will have to resort to protest. Residents also complain of muddy water supply and that too for a short period unlike on normal days, when water is supplied for 3 hours in the morning, between 6am to 9am, and 3 hours in evening, between 6pm to 9pm.

The Upper Ganga Canal, which supplies Ganga water to Noida, is cleaned annually for silt, usually in the month of October or November. Currently, the total demand for water in Noida is 332 million litres per day (MLD). The authority supplies 240 MLD of Ganga water to the residents, while the remaining is procured through groundwater resources. In other words, while the authority supplies 70% Ganga water and 30% of the water comes from groundwater resources, said officials.

During the annual cleaning of canal, the water supply gets affected for a month or so every year.In the past, the authority had supplied drinking water in tankers to areas from where it was receiving complaints about shortfall. Residents in some areas generally witness low water pressure during the cleaning drive. This year too, the authority is supplying water via tankers on demand. In Sector 10, people are getting water supply via tankers, said officials.

Residents, however, said that this year the water crisis is worse.“In morning, there is water supply only for 20 minutes with extremely low pressure. We have been receiving complaints from all of sectors. We have requested the authority to look into the issue immediately. However, there is no respite is in sight. We have demanded that canal cleaning should be done in such a manner so that water supply does not get affected during festive season,” said Sanjeev Kumar vice-president, Gautam Budh Nagar district development residents’ welfare association (DDRWA) — an umbrella body of RWAs of the district.

According to the authority, water supply is affected because 6 out of 11 rainy wells are not working. Also, 125 pumps are shut due to technical glitches, while water reservoirs are not adequate to store water.

“Earlier, in 2019, the authority had assured that water supply will be restored by Diwali, when the cleaning was over. But it had failed to restore the supply. We fear that this year too, the authority will fail to restart the supply of Ganga by Diwali, which falls on November 14,” said Arun Kumar, a resident of sector 34.

The authority, when asked about the water situation, said it will address the issue.“Hopefully once our ongoing Ganga water supplement project gets completed this year, the issue will be resolved,” said Ritu Maheshwari, chief executive officer (CEO), Noida authority. The authority is working on a project that will ensure additional supply of Ganga water and construction of a reservoir for supply during a crisis, said officials.