950 ponds still under heaps of plastic, Noida extends deadline

NOIDA: Only 20 of 985 ponds identified for cleaning have been taken up for revival so far, prompting the district administration to put off the deadline for the project from September 15 to December this year.
The district administration has struck deals with a few corporate agencies and villagers for cleaning up the ponds, but more than 900 waterbodies are still under heaps of garbage and plastic. Environmentalists said that along with the cleaning drive, it is important to raise awareness among villagers who throw garbage in the waterbodies in the absence of any dedicated place.
Officials said meetings with corporate agencies are being held regularly, but the progress in the campaign has been staggering so far. “We conducted a survey in several villages last week and found that little work has been done on ponds that were adopted. We have prepared a list of such waterbodies,” said Ramveer Tanwar, a Greater Noida-based water conservationist. According to Tanwar, who has been instrumental in cleaning up almost 10 ponds in Greater Noida, villagers continue to throw thrash in the waterbodies.
“Simply cleaning a pond is not enough. Whoever adopts a pond, should take the responsibility of maintaining it. For many ponds, we have introduced a sustainable model for villagers to breed fish and maintain the waterbodies from proceeds of the sales. The ponds have to be maintained at the community level,” Tanwar said.
Anil Singh, chief development officer, Gautam Budh Nagar, said, “Revival of ponds is in progress, but it will take time. Cleaning the waterbodies is crucial to improving the groundwater.” Cleaning up a pond includes pumping out the water and de-silting the bed. According to experts, the process can cost anything between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.