The civic agency said a consultant had been appointed for the purpose, and that work would be completed in five stages.
Image used for representational purposes only
Ghaziabad Development Authority, or GDA, filed an affidavit at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) today, saying it had sanctioned Rs 20.25 lakh in March this year “for the proper functioning and resolving of the issue of overflow of drainage/sewage pipeline” in Ahinsa Khand 2, Indirapuram. The civic agency also said a consultant had been appointed for the purpose, and that work would be completed in five stages.
However, residents said that they had witnessed no work on the ground till date.
Federation of Association of Apartment Owners, or FedAOA, had approached NGT about the issue of choked and overflowing sewer lines in August this year. A case had been filed in the green court, citing the environmental impact of the overflow of untreated sewer water into the city’s storm water drains. Following this, the green court had summoned civic agencies to present their response. FedAOA had said that GDA was sleeping on the sewage issue in Indirapuram and that the situation was worsening every day.
GDA, however, maintained that there was a deficit in the collection of maintenance charges in Ahinsa Khand 2. Among 30 projects, only three cleared their payments, taking the pending payments up to almost Rs 7,80,24,380.
“However, consultants have already being engaged and work is being done in Ahinsa Khand 2. The work of the repair of sewer lines shall be initiated only after receiving final reports from the consultants and getting them verified from a technical institute,” said GDA.
GDA also blamed society RWAs for the overflow of sewage, saying the RWAs pumped sewer water on to the roads. However, the heads of the RWAs maintained that they took the step only as a last resort, as the blocked and dirty sewer lines made the water flow back into the basements, which also housed lift equipment and electricity panels.
Speaking to City Spidey, Alok Kumar, president of FedAOA, said that the GDA explanations were eyewash. “The authority is contradicting itself. Why would someone have to pump out sewer water, that too with hired pump sets, if the sewer lines were actually clear and working? Societies do that out of sheer helplessness,” Kumar said.
Kumar added that the pending payments mentioned by GDA could not be connected to the choked sewer lines. “If someone is not paying charges, the government can initiate action against them. But that cannot be used as an excuse for bad urban sanitation,” he added.
