Locals demand better civic infra, resolution of homebuyer issues in G Noida West

With over 70 high-rise societies and a population nearing about one lakh (100,000), Greater Noida West will play a crucial role in deciding the fortunes of candidates from the Dadri assembly constituency, which will go to polls on February 10, under phase one of the seven-phased assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Of the total 586,000 registered voters in Dadri, about 100,000 are from Greater Noida West and the constituency, which is one of three assembly constituencies in Gautam Budh Nagar, is currently represented by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Tejpal Nagar, who defeated his nearest rival, Bahujan Samajwadi Party’s Satveer Singh Gurjar, by a margin of 80,177 votes in the 2017 elections.

Dadri, according to several realty surveys, is emerging as a fast growing real estate hub with towering high-rise societies, each housing hundreds of flats. According to residents there, however, the ground realities are far different from brochure pictures of real estate projects — the area suffers from a lack of several crucial civic infrastructure and, according to residents, is treated by political parties as the “poor country cousin” of the much more urban Noida and Greater Noida.

One of the major demands of voters in this area is the speedy resolution of homebuyer issues that include delays in registration and handover of flats. Homebuyers had launched a campaign called “No registry, No vote” last November, which intensified this month with elections approaching.

“Builders delay flat registrations by years and our MLA does not come forward in our support. There are at least one lakh homebuyers in Greater Noida West who are awaiting possession and registration of flats. Our first demand to candidates is that they include our demands in their manifestos,” said Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owner’s Welfare Association (NEFOWA).

Residents say their second demand is a multi-specialty government hospital in the region for want of which they are currently forced to travel a long way to Noida — the District Hospital is 15km away while Government Institute Of Medical Sciences in Kasna, Greater Noida, is 28km away — in search of quality medical care.

“During the second wave of Covid-19, we realised the importance of a multi-specialty government hospital as residents were unable to find beds and private hospitals continued to cash in on our desperation. Greater Noida West has one community health centre to cater to the population of Bisrakh block but not a single government hospital,” said Manish Kumar, a resident of Supertech EcoVillage-2, Greater Noida West.

Residents also said they urgently needed a cremation ground, playground and more government schools.

“Greater Noida West has a large population and hence there is a dire need for a hi-tech cremation facility. Currently, we are forced to take our dead to Antim Nivas in Noida’s Sector 94, about 15km away. Moreover, the whole region does not have a single playground for children. This has been a long pending demand of residents,” said Rakesh Ranjan, a member of Gaur City 12th Avenue Apartment Owners’ Association (AOA).

Their demand for civic amenities did not stop there; residents have also been demanding Ganga water supply for years now.

“As voters, we are not happy with the current MLA as he never helped resolve our issues. People’s representatives are elected so that they represent us and put pressure on developers and authorities to provide us basic amenities,” said Naval Kishore, president of Green Arch AOA, Greater Noida West.

When contacted, MLA Nagar refused to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, Congress’s Dadri candidate Deepak Bhati Chotiwala said homebuyer issues were a priority in his upcoming manifesto. “I have assured the residents of Greater Noida West that homebuyer issues, especially regarding delayed registry, is my priority. I will ensure that action is taken against errant developers,” he said, adding that providing basic amenities such as hospitals and playgrounds is also on his agenda.

Raj Kumar Bhati, Samajwadi Party’s Dadri candidate, said, “If I am voted to power, I will ensure that the homebuyers awaiting registration are able to do that in six months. I will also ensure basic amenities such as government hospitals, playground and a cremation ground are provided to residents as soon as possible.”

Political analysts in Gautam Budh Nagar said anti-incumbency is strong against the Dadri MLA.

“The kind of model that was offered to the people in the past five years was based on a ”charity model” wherein the candidates promised benefits in return for votes but that has reached a saturation point as voter demands have not been met in these five years. The pandemic and the economic meltdown induced by it has changed equations and candidates need something new to keep voters engaged. Residents have started understanding this. Secondly, the perceived apathy of the people’s representative has hurt people,” said Hilal Ahmad, associate professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi.