Noida to adopt bamboo screens to keep plastic from choking stormwater drains

To keep plastic and other waste from choking the city’s drains, the Noida authority has installed bamboo screens in the city’s stormwater drains at 250 locations.

As per a Central Pollution Control Board report, nearly 64 million litres per day (MLD) untreated sewage is dumped into drains in Noida, thereby polluting the river systems and underground water. The CPCB found this anomaly during an inspection conducted after an order by the National Green Tribunal.

The Central Pollution Control Board, on June 26, 2019, had imposed a penalty of ₹1 crore on the Noida authority for dumping city’s untreated sewage into drains.

“This innovative, low-cost and low-maintenance solution helps filter out non-biodegradable waste, mainly plastic, from choking drains and makes its cleaning easy,” Noida authority chief executive officer (CEO) Ritu Maheshwari.

The authority has spent about ₹10 lakh on installation of bamboo made screens. After the waste is trapped, it will be collected and recycled as per the Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules-2016, officials said.

According to the authority’s water and sewage department, there are over 30 main drains, including an irrigation drain that are also known as the Kondli drain as it originates from Delhi’s Kondli and merges with Yamuna at Sector 168 after passing through sectors 11, 12, 22, 34, 50, 51, 137 and 168 among others. Many big and small stormwater drains are connected with the Kondli drain.

As per rules, these stormwater drains are meant to only carry rainwater during rainy season. “But these drains now mostly carry sewage from unauthorized areas of Delhi and Noida. Dumping untreated waste is against the norms,” said a report prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Earlier in 2016, the authority had planned to put plastic nets in these drains across the city. But the plan never saw the light of day. The authority wants to trap this waste because all these drains are not fenced and people dump their waste illegally causing health issues. Almost all residential sectors have drains that carry sewage and become sources of foul smell for nearby areas.

“Due to bad small, we have to keep our windows shut. The authority must clean these drains and also plant trees to reduce the foul smell,” Sector 29 Gajendra Singh Raghav said.