Noida: Civic issues
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Drains
2018: Open drains
From: Shafaque Alam, With 87km of big open drains, Noida has too many death traps, May 4, 2018: The Times of India
Most Not Fenced Or Cleaned, Similar To One In Which Radio Exec’s Car Fell
A large, open drain like the one in which Radio Mirchi executive Tania Khanna’s car fell in the early hours of Wednesday, killing her, is never too far away if you live in Noida.
The city has as many as 25 arterial stormwater drains, which collectively cover an area of 87km. Most of these do not have any fencing, barricades or signage for pedestrians and motorists. Combined with poorly lit stretches of road, like at the Sector 85 roundabout that Tania was driving by when the accident happened, more accidents are waiting to happen if the Noida Authority does not take immediate measures, various residents and RWA members TOI spoke to said.
Sudhir Shrivastava, a Sector 55 resident, said, “The Noida Authority should at least fence all drains if covering them is not possible. Tania died of drowning, not due to any injury. If there was some strong fencing around the drain, it would have stopped the car from falling. The Authority should take corrective measures.”
Amid outrage in the city over Tania’s death, the Noida Authority dispatched sanitation workers to different locations to clean drains. It also sent out officials on inspections. A senior Noida official said the drains cannot be covered because of National Green Tribunal guidelines.
However, the lack of maintenance of the drains is evident. At present, most of the arterial stormwater drains are filled with muck and blocked in places by garbage deposits. At several places, sewage from houses and commercial units flows into these drains freely (the sewerage network is different from the stormwater channels). As a result, many of the stormwater drains are filled to the brink.
Raju, a shopkeeper in Harolla, said the water is mostly static, leading to the drain stinking, and triggering health problems. “People have fallen into this drain before. Only parts of it are fenced. The water is stagnant and filled with plastic bottles and used tea bags. This is creating health problems for us too.”
Noida Authority ACEO R K Mishra said, “There is no specific guideline about drains used for rainwater. They are different from the sewage system used for passage of household water. We have directed the teams to inspect all drains. We are thinking of raising fencing of all drains by 1-2 feet,” he said.
In March 2015, the NGT had directed civic authorities to clean up all stormwater drains and ensure no sewage or solid waste enters them. It said no stormwater drain should be covered because that will result in increased toxicity and health hazards because of trapped gases.
R S Yadav, senior project engineer (public health) Noida, said, “All the drains will be cleaned by May 15.”
The president of Noida’s RWA federation (FONRWA) said Noida had failed to take preventive measures despite being informed of the dangers by residents repeatedly. “We had apprised them about the issues in the past too, and about the poor nature of sanitation work. There is no signboards, no fencing of drains. Sometimes cows, buffalos fall into these drains, too,” said NP Singh.
R K Gupta, a resident of Sector 49, added, “Noida is being touted as a smart city of the future but the government can’t get basic sanitation right. The stagnant water in the drains is causing vector-borne diseases and also damaging electronic gadgets.”
