I was surprised when Mr. Arora informed us that some new person has replaced Monica Garg, the CEO of Noida Authority. Mayawati government had appointed Ms Monica recently, when it came in power after defeating Mulayam. Why do the person in Lucknow keep on changing the CEOs of Noida so often? Every one knows the answer, but no one can dare to speak of that. Noida is the golden goose. CEO must keep on handing over the golden eggs to the master. When he or she fails, someone else replaces the failed person with a clear understanding to meet the target of golden eggs. Manmohan Singh was trying to fix up a minimum tenure for all IAS assignments to bring in some accountability. But the state chief ministers need not follow the wishes of the prime minister, particularly when they know that the PM hardly matters politically. How can one expect Noida to compete with Bangalore or Hyderabad with CEOs getting shifted so often? How can the people of Noida expect some lasting improvement in civic services in the township under this condition?

However, my grievances are related to some inconveniences of Noida that can be helped by any one who comes to hold the chair in Noida Authority.

Staffs from Noida Authority dismantled the soft barriers that the residents of Blocks A &B of Sector 41 facing the road dividing the sector from Sector 39, had raised to protect themselves freely from external extrusion. We were told that it was done by an instruction of Monica Garg. There was also a promise of a boundary wall. It appeared in local media too. Unfortunately nothing has happened as shown in photograph above. The residents live unprotected. I really pity some, who own factories and are susceptible to many types of harassments and embarrassments from some insane employees including, as I was told, sometimes threat of kidnapping of their kids.

This article is also to highlight the lack of certain basic planning by the Noida Authority in providing the basic infrastructure for living properly for the residents in Block A of sector 41 from plot number A-45 to A-59.

The photographs above show the accumulation of water soon after it rained on August 3, 2007 in Noida. There is no drainage provided for this. It always happens, but with rain god not very generous with Noida, the residents forget. It requires a new drain along the stretch.

Another sore point is the construction of a service lane along the side of the main road connecting Choura Mor to Dadri Road that is going on for last few months causing inconvenience to all those, particularly senior citizens who use the road to go to the nearby markets. It is bound to take some more months as a number of electrical installations, including poles and transformers are to be relocated. Many of the residents feel that the service lane will not serve any useful purpose. They don’t understand for whom the service lane is being built, once the gates of the sector are as it is placed today remain closed.

Water will accumulate on the service lane as shown in photographs above, unless proper drain is incorporated along it. It may affect even the foundation of the houses near it. Why can’t Noida Authority take the technically active people of the affected areas in confidence before designing and building such roads?

There are some more things to highlight:

Can Noida Authority do something about open defecation along many roads?

Can Sector 18 be declared no car movement zone as the shopping area in Sector 17 of Chandigarh?

Can Noida Authority encourage the shop owners to make the markets look good and tidy, say by having some uniformity of signage?

Can Noida Authority establish some good libraries proposed so seriously by the National Knowledge Commission?

Can Noida Authority encourage some private entrepreneur to set up a captive power plant for Noida?

Can Noida Authority get the project of City Centre with all its components executed fast?

Can Noida Authority get some more Science Colleges for the children of its residents?

Can Noida Authority ban plastic bags?

Surprisingly, whenever the government in Lucknow changes, the important projects get suspended. With coming of Mulayam, the work on Taj Expressway and the flyovers got stuck. Now the Mayawati government has scrapped the land allotment to 14 hotels of Noida that were expected to be operational by 2010 to meet the requirements of Commonwealth Games. Noida suffers in process.

Can something be done by the center to do away with these bad practices affecting the city and its growth? Nothing can ever happen if there is so much interference from Lucknow and CEOs are kept under the constant threat of transfer.