Ghaziabad land dispute delays Ganga water project in Noida

The ongoing land dispute over an 80-square-metre plot in Ghaziabad has delayed the completion of phase III of Ganga water project in Noida, officials said on Sunday.

According to the officials, the Noida authority has failed to meet the September 2022 deadline for the completion of the project’s phase III segment as they were unable to lay the Ganga water pipelines, due to the dispute, causing problems for thousands of residents who complain of water quality issues in their respective areas.

Since the establishment of the Noida in April, 1976 the authority had completed work on the Ganga water project in two phases, delivering Ganga water to some old residential areas.

The Noida authority had signed an agreement with the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam in January 2016 to procure additional Ganga water under the third phase of the project. The supply was expected to start by the end of 2018. However, slow work on laying pipelines from Ghaziabad’s water reservoir to Noida’s storage facilities has hindered the project’s progress.

According to the officials, the Noida authority is spending ₹200 crore to on phase III of Ganga water project.

Ritu Maheshwari, chief executive officer of the Noida authority, said, “We could not complete the task of laying pipelines for Ganga water supply in Ghaziabad’s Dasna, where dispute over 80 square metres plot belonging to an individual delayed the work. But we hope the matter will be resolved soon and we will complete the water pipeline job soon.”

The delay has forced citizens in areas located towards the Noida Expressway to depend on saline groundwater supply, inviting criticism from the public. “We have been hearing for last many years that the Noida authority will deliver the Ganga water project. But the authority keeps missing the deadlines. We hope that the authority will now complete the work and deliver Ganga water to remaining areas,” said Vinod Sharma, sector 108 RWA president.

The authority is yet to start Ganga water supply to sector 94, 104, 105, 108, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 135, 150, and 151, among other areas located along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. The authority is currently supplying 240 million litres per day (MLD) of Ganga water to residents in old areas. Once the Phase-III is completed, the authority will have the capacity to supply 330 MLD of Ganga water to residents, officials said.