When it comes to a clean, green city, Noida has set a fine example of the success of collaboration between civic body and the people. In the Swachh Survekshan 2021, the NCR city bagged the fourth spot in the list of cleanest cities of India that have population between one and 10 lakh. It improved its position by 21 spots after being ranked 25 last year.
In NCR, Noida fared best. In cities with more than 10 lakh population, Faridabad slipped four spots to 41 among the 48 cities surveyed. Gurugram improved its ranking from 62nd last year to 24th this year among cities with a population between one and 10 lakh. The results of the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) were announced on 20 November 2021.
So while Gurugram has nearly taken Noida’s spot from last year, the latter has raised the bar high.
The Noida Authority focussed on certain initiatives that brought about the rise in its ranking. And processing construction-demolition waste using a plant that has a capacity of 250-300 tonnes is one such step.
“Construction-demolition waste is processed in our C&D plant in Sector 80 and apart from Delhi, Noida is the only other city in NCR that has such facility,” said S.C. Mishra, DGM, Senior project engineer (public health), Noida Authority. The treated waste is reused to make paver blocks, and in brick and tile manufacturing units.
Noida Authority has been consistently working to turn the city into a clean, green space. But for the change that has come, the symbiotic relationship between the authority, RWAs and the citizens is no less important. “Citizen involvement and participation has been high,” said S.C. Mishra.
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Climbing the cleanliness chart
Noida ranked 150 in 2019, but made remarkable improvement to bag 25th spot in last year’s survey. The city received a 5-star rating in a survey on garbage free- cities (GFC) this year. In June 2020, Noida’s rating was 3-star in the same category.
Mishra told ThePrint that his department had managed to continue its efforts of keeping the city clean even during the height of Covid. Despite it being a challenging task to manage hazardous waste produced during the treatment of Covid patients, be it at hospitals or for those quarantining at home, the Noida Authority continued with its process of waste segregation and disposal.
From employing swachhta ambassadors that go door-to-door asking residents to segregate dry and wet waste, to hosting awareness programmes and awards for cleanest sectors, the Authority has taken many steps to make the city climb the cleanliness chart.
Noida is reusing treated water for horticulture, dust management and sprinkling, car-washing and in its fire tenders. This has resulted in 150-190 million litres of waste water being reused on a daily basis.
“Noida has no landfills that pile up with garbage in many places across NCR,” said Mishra. It is not simply the construction demolition or waste management, but beautification too. Every pillar in the metro stations in Noida, and around 300 walls in Noida have been painted to enhance the beauty of the city, added Miishra.
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Residents’ initiative
Anita Joshi, President of RWA Sector 51 Noida, said how all residents cooperated to make the society a near zero-garbage locality. “We also have CCTV cameras installed that monitors where waste is being dumped. But residents are mostly cooperative and segregate the waste themselves, which helps us in its disposal,” said Joshi.
In an earlier report, ThePrint had told how the two sectors that were adjudged the cleanest in Noida had their own waste disposal systems. Mishra said that Noida’s cleanliness can be attributed to its residents’ awareness and their willingness to go that extra mile.
Joshi told how her RWA chose a nearby empty plot that was being used as a landfill and turned it into a thriving vegetable patch. Once people saw how it was done, they emulated the same at other spots near the sector to create green spaces. “We have regular cleanliness drives and educational programmes for children on reducing and reusing plastics and other forms of waste-management,” Joshi added.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)