Park upkeep: Contractors fined Rs 21L

Noida: Noida authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari on Thursday levied an overall fine of Rs 21 lakh on contractors for lack of upkeep in parks and other green belts in several sectors. The CEO carried out an inspection of various parks in residential sectors, including 62, 63, 46A, 93A, 50, 12 and green belts across sectors 93B, 105 and 108. While in some sectors, labourers were found missing, at others, garbage and horticulture waste was seen even as pruning of trees and grass was found unsatisfactory in some places.
An official said, “The contractor of Sector 50 Meghdootam park was fined Rs 5 lakh as one toilet was shut and the other had a broken door. The contractor of Sector 46A park, where only three labourers were found working, was fined Rs 6 lakh. The contractor of Express View park at Sector 93A was fined Rs 10 lakh for unsatisfactory work of pruning of grass and overall lack of sanitation.”
Further, while no gardener was found working in the central verges and green belts at many places, the contractor of sector 63 A-block park was blacklisted for no labour found working in the park even as garbage was found littered near the entry gate.
Meanwhile, following complaints of lack of upkeep and overall maintenance in Sector Beta 1 parks, GNIDA officials visited the area on Thursday and the residents apprised them of broken roads, wire fencing, benches, swings etc. Officials were also shown areas where the drains are choked leading to overflow of sewer water and encroachment on roads in the sector.
“Today sector Beta 1 was visited by Ashok Kumar Arora general manager GNIDA along with other officials including Praveen Salonia senior manager and managers Surendra Bhati, Prabhat Shankar, Karan Singh Tyagi, BP Singh and Surendra Singh. During their visit, we apprised the officials that since the possession of plots in the sector, its parks, roads, community centre and overall maintenance is not up to the mark,” said Harinder Bhati, resident of the sector.
Bhati, who is also a member of the Active Citizen Team (ACT), a residents’ body in Greater Noida, added that while there’s seepage and cracks in the walls of the community centre, majority benches and swings in the sector parks are broken. “Due to the non-functioning lights in the Shaheed Bismillah Park in the sector, it has become a haven for anti-social elements. Not only that, boundary walls of parks in some blocks are broken leading to stray cattle damaging the plants and grass,” said Bhati.
Manoj Nagar, another member of ACT apprised officials over the clogged drains in the sector leading to overflow of sewer water. “One major problem is that most residents have built concrete slabs in front of their homes leading to inaccessibility to drain cleaning. This has to be attended to by the concerned contractor who hasn’t bothered so far,” said Nagar.
Anupam Yadav, a resident added that while most wire fencing in the sector is broken, a boundary wall should be built in its place. “This will not only help curb stray cattle, but also address the issue of encroachment on sector roads,” said Yadav.
Arora from GNIDA assured action on all the problem areas and issued a warning to the concerned contractors. “We will address all the complaints pointed out by the residents. I have also issued a warning to the concerned contractors. Staff from the authority have further been directed to monitor the work thoroughly,” he said.