Noida set to finally cover its drains

NOIDA: The Noida Authority has decided to cover 10 drains across the city under a pilot project, responding to years of complaints from residents living in their vicinity about pungent smell and toxic gases emanating from them.

Officials said one drain in each of the city’s 10 work circles would be covered in this phase. If the response is good, the move would be replicated in other areas as well.The city now has 75 main drains and 44 small ones.
Over the next few weeks, four drains will be covered. Among them is the main drain in Arun Vihar, which has permeated the lives of the families living there and raised concerns about health problems — an issue TOI had highlighted in an article in March. About Rs 40 crore would be spent on repairing and covering the four drains, which pass through several populated areas of sectors 21, 27, 28, 29 and 37.
A 2014 directive of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), however, bans the covering of drains fully. The NGT had pointed out that these drains needed to be cleaned and de-silted regularly and covering them fully could affect the exercise.
The authority, however, said they had reached a middle path and would cover the drains with iron grilles and concrete slabs with gaps between them so that they could be removed for cleaning. Outlets would also be created in isolated places if hazardous gases accumulated — a concern the NGT had raised in 2014.
At the starting points of each drain, multiple layers of mesh would be installed so that solid waste does not pass through. In some places, iron grilles would be used in place of concrete slabs, which would then be covered with fibre sheets. The authority has taken the help of IIT-Delhi on how to cover the drains in a scientific manner.
“We are taking this step keeping in mind the repeated complaints of residents. They have been seeking a solution to stench in the areas from the open drains. We are also considering the NGT norms. If this pilot project is successful, it can be replicated in other areas,” said Ritu Maheshwari, the Noida Authority CEO.
For long, residents living in societies around the drains had raised concerns about lung ailments and other health problems. Their social life was also thrown out of gear as no relative would visit them. Selling a flat near a drain proved to be a difficult task too.
Col IP Singh (retired), the chairperson of the Arun Vihar RWA, said, “We have been raising the issue of an open drain in our area for several years now. The drains passing through sectors 28, 29 and 37 are also posing health hazards for around 5,000 families living in their vicinity. NGT norms do not allow covering of drains fully. But there are multiple ways to solve the issue. Creating outlets and leaving gaps in between concrete slabs are some of them, besides regular cleaning.”
Environmentalists, however, raised questions about Noida’s plans. “There are several alternatives, but the authority is taking the easy way out. Covering of drains will further deteriorate the water quality because of the anaerobic conditions. There is nothing like temporary or permanent cover. Over time, it would become a permanent feature in violation of the NGT order. This is nothing but a cover-up. Bio-remediation efforts could be done to curb the smell, probably at a much lower cost,” said Manu Bhatnagar, the principal director in the natural heritage division of INTACH.