Work yet to start on making Noida roads dust-free

The Noida authority is yet to develop dust-free zones along city roads to mitigate air pollution, as directed by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA).

On October 28 last year, the EPCA chairman, Bhure Lal, had directed the Noida authority to ensure that roads are made dust-free as they add a lot of particulate matter to the air. Following these instructions, the authority had decided to plant grass and saplings in dug-up areas, conduct mechanical sweeping and put tiles as required along city roads.

Residents said that on-ground reality remains the same despite the emergency measures that had to be adopted in the wake of crop residue burning, which resulted in the worst spell of air pollution the national capital region (NCR) has seen so far.

“The Noida authority is only making plans to revamp roads since October. The authority is yet to do anything on the ground. We had a couple of meetings with the authority officials on this issue, but no plan has materialised as yet,” Amit Gupta, a resident of Sector 77, said.

The EPCA chairman had conducted an inspection in sectors 73, 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78, among other areas, where housing societies are being built and some have been occupied, after receiving complaints from residents about pollution caused by dusty roads.

After Lal’s instructions, the authority had said it would refurbish roads in these sectors and do mechanical sweeping.

“The authority had sprinkled water on dusty roads for a few days after the inspection. Later, they forgot to repair footpaths. When heavy vehicles ply at high speed, the dust starts flying. The authority must act immediately because residents along these roads suffer,” Mahesh Singh, a resident of Sector 78, said.

Residents said the authority should construct proper footpaths and green areas immediately after a housing society is occupied by homebuyers.

“When many housing towers (in a society) are occupied, it is the duty of the authority to provide facilities such as clean and dust-free roads and footpaths,” Sandip Arora, of Sector 76, said.

The Noida authority had decided to revamp roads in sectors 73, 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78, among other areas. But it is yet to even draw estimates for these works.

Omvir Singh, director of horticulture department, said, “The plans to plant grass and saplings have been discussed. We will begin work once tenders are finalised.”