One shower and Noida Authority's claims of a waterlogging-free city goes poof!

The first few heavy showers this monsoon have exposed Noida Authority's false claims of having unclogged all drains in the city.

MC Bhardwaj, a resident of Sector 34, lamented that the situation would not have been this bad if the Authority had acted upon the numerous complaints about choked drains in the city. "I had lodged a complaint about one such clogged drain about three months ago," said Bhardwaj. "The Authority did nothing to address the problem. This morning, all the waste was seen floating on the waterlogged streets. It was disgusting. But it could have been avoided."

Lokesh Kashyap, a resident of Sector 27, said rainwater had flooded his house in Block E. "It is only Noida Authority's apathy to our problems that results in such situations," said Kashyap. "If it had addressed the problem on time, none of this would have happened."

People living in apartment complexes were unable to leave their societies, as the internal roads in most societies were flooded with knee-deep water. "I could not leave for work, as the entire society was flooded," said Pavan Yadav, a resident of Century Apartments in Sector 100.

TC Gaur, a resident of Sector 46, said it wasn't a surprise that the roads were blocked. “The drains are all blocked, so of course the roads would be waterlogged," said Gaur. "The Authority should immediately deploy staff to unclog the blocked drains. Better late than never."

Sujeet Kumar Pandey, a resident of Sector 93, said the houses lying at a lower level than the road were the worst affected in Express View Apartments. "This exposes the truth," said Pandey. "If the Authority had actually cleaned the drains, this wouldn't have happened."