Noida: For a month now, a pool of water mixed with mud sits undisturbed near main gate number 5 in Sector 55. Residents have claimed that the sewage treatment plant (STP) pipeline near the gate is broken, leading to ground seepage and muck overflow in the area.Despite numerous complaints to the Authority, residents said that the issue has remained unresolved. They also complained that decades-old civic infrastructure is leading to choked sewers.“The ground is sinking here. There is a guard’s room near the gate and its wall could very well collapse at any time,” said Satnarayan Goyal, president of the sector’s RWA. “We complained about this several times. Is the Authority waiting for an accident to happen?”The repercussions of poor sewage management is extended well beyond Sector 55.
Over the past weeks, TOI has reported on the supply of contaminated water mixed with sewage from several sectors in Greater Noida, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. This led to a surge in waterborne illnesses among residents, including stomach disorders, vomiting, and fever.If the STP problem continues to go unaddressed, residents of Sector 55 fear they may soon find themselves facing similar health issues. Developed in the early 1980s, the sector, which is home to over 8,000 residents, is one of the oldest. The water, sewer and power infrastructure there is over two decades old and in dire need of upgrades.The former RWA general secretary of Sector 55, Rajesh Aggarwal has complained about the lack of response from the Authority in upgrading the age-old civic infrastructure of the sector. “There is no thought in that direction from officials, despite our repeated warnings,” he said. He pointed out that the existing sewer line in the sector is not only old but also heavily choked and in desperate need of replacement. “We made several complaints regarding this matter, but the silence from the authorities is deafening,”he added.In addition to the sewer problems, residents are facing further risks due to a lack of adequate streetlights. “They are spaced 20-25 metres apart and the poles are over 20 feet high, completely engulfed in overgrown trees and branches,” Aggarwal noted. “These were not pruned for months, resulting in long stretches of complete darkness at night, creating safety hazards.”While a team from the Noida Authority’s water department visited the site late Wednesday afternoon to repair the STP pipeline leaks, other issues of choked sewers and streetlights remained to be addressed.
