NOIDa: Planned as buffers between arterial roads and residential sectors, Noida’s green belts were meant to curb vehicular pollution, improve air quality and enhance neighbourhood aesthetics. Today, many lie neglected – reduced to dumping grounds for horticulture waste and construction debris. Sanitation workers routinely pile roadside garbage here before it is lifted by dumper trucks.The city has over 350 such belts within its notified areas. These range between 400 and 800 metres in length. Residents now say they are repelled by the sight of these areas.The problem is most pronounced in sectors 35, 47, 51, 36, 37 and 70. Some of these belts are encroached upon by food vendors and dhobis. The discoms too keep their equipment like cables and generators here.The green belt running along Sector 47 is about 500m long. “These areas can be a wonderful space for residents but the lack of maintenance defeats their purpose,” said Sanjay Chauhan, a resident of Sector 47. “We don’t want to even look at the space because it is so dirty filled with trash or dried leaves. After our repeated requests, Noida Authority arranged for waste pick-ups but the service remains erratic.”Residents of Sector 70 have complained to the Authority about sewage discharge into the green belt near Pan Oasis Society. The president of apartment owners association of blocks A and B, Amit Chauhan, said, “Sewage and drain water is discharged into the green belt in front of the society. About 200 to 250 trees planted here are on the verge of dying. The green belts have deep pits in which this dirty water and rainwater accumulate and in this stagnant water mosquitoes breed. Dirty water from a public toilet near a private school in the area is also flowing into the green belt here.”In Sector 51, Sharad Jain, a resident of Kendriya Vihar 1, said the nearly 700-metre green belt in the area has turned into a dumping site for garbage and C&D waste. Residents from Sectors 26, 27, 11, 12, 19, 24 and 23 have also raised similar concerns.Apart from sanitation issues, there are security threats. The 2,400 square metres of green cover along Shivalik Road has been in a pitiable state for the past three or four years. The boundary wall along the green belt is damaged. Plaster slabs are falling apart and the wire mesh on top of the wall is broken. “We have seen labourers enter the sector through the broken sections of the wall. There have been thefts in recent times,” Rajeev Choudhary, general secretary of the Sector 35 RWA, said.RWA vice president of Sector 36 Ashoo Sharma said one of two the green belts in his sector is being used by the discom to park its equipment and generators. The horticulture department is using the other one as a dump. The tent set up for labourers by the public health department has turned into a shanty which miscreants and anti-socials use. “The other side, which is outside the sector next to the drain, is now infested with vendors, leaving no trace of the green belt. It is unfortunate that, despite many visits to the Authority and meetings with the former CEO, ACEO and directors, nothing has been done yet. It’s disappointing that we are still waiting for improvements promised two years ago,” he said Sharma.Sharma had suggested a nature walk for senior residents in the green belt, with waterways, walkways, fishponds, monkey rope, a Burma bridge, toilets and a mini amphitheatre for kids to enjoy nature. There has been no feedback from the Authority on this.Anand Mohan Singh, deputy director (horticulture) of the Authority, told TOI that routine cleaning of these areas is indeed carried out. “In case of encroachment, lack of upkeep and fading greenery, we act when complaints are filed. We also impose fines on contractors,” he said.
