Noida: Over the past few days, the industrial sector in Phase 2 has been through a lot. It has witnessed stone pelting and protests by workers from the many factories that operate from here, as well as heavy police presence and barricading. But amidst all this, drains clogged with garbage, plastic waste strewn along roadsides and construction and demolition waste have sat undisturbed.Shambolic civic conditions don’t raise eyebrows here. It’s part of the geography.Home to more than 1,200 industries comprising hosiery, electronics, garments, pharmaceuticals, auto components and plastic molding units, sectors 81, 83, 84 and 85 are a sanitation nightmare. Vacant plots in neighboring Nayagaon, Yakubpur and Salarpur villages are littered with waste and stray cattle graze through trash, ingesting many harmful substances, including plastic.On Thursday, Noida Authority penalized a sanitation contractor for shoddy work in the area, but drains remained blocked.Arun Sharma, an industrialist who manufactures LED lights from his 800-square-metre unit at B 61, Sector 83, Phase 2, has blamed sanitation workers for this mess. He said they dump the waste on vacant plots and leave it there for days. “They are irregular; they often visit once a week or sometimes once in two weeks. The waste keeps rotting,” he said.Sharma claimed that, in the absence of a proper waste management system in nearby villages, residents dump garbage in vacant plots, outside the boundary walls of industrial units, and in surrounding drains. However, the majority of the industrial units in the area treat the waste within their compounds before getting rid of it.Another industrialist from Sector 80, Mohan Singh, owns a plastic molding unit where he manufactures coolers and washing machines. He echoed Sharma’s statements and said, “Sanitation is a problem here as garbage is not picked up regularly. If you look at the waste dumped in these areas, you will find that it is mostly domestic waste like plastic wrappers, polybags, shopping bags, old clothes and bottles. Most problems revolve around villages,” he said.The large and medium-sized industries in the area claim they comply with the stipulated bulk waste management rules and therefore face no sanitation issues.A resident of Nayagaon village Madan Bhati said the waste collection van’s timings are often erratic. “Sometimes, it’s 10am or 11am or past 12 noon. Also, sanitation workers don’t turn up regularly. In such a situation, we are left with no other option but to dump it in open spaces.”Hari Bhati, a resident of Yakubpur said that garbage collection is not streamlined here. “Irregular timing, and staff negligence leads to frequent sanitation issues here,” he said.Noida Village Residents Association president Ranjan Tomar said industrial workers mostly inhabit these villages. “These workers leave for work early in the morning. Even if the waste collection vans turn up at 10am, these workers leave early in the morning and often miss them. No one wants to keep garbage in their own homes and so they end up in the vacant plots,” he said.A senior Noida Authority official told TOI that regular sanitation is done in industrial sectors. On Thursday, several areas were cleaned and a penalty of Rs 1 lakh was imposed on the contractor. “There were some staff absences due to Baisakhi on Monday (April 13), Ambedkar Jayanti on Tuesday (April 14), and workers’ protest over the last two days further disrupted routine sanitation. Today we have penalized the contractor and directed the due cleaning of the entire area. The drains and sewers will be cleaned soon,” he said.
