Ganga project misses deadline again, supply likely next year

GREATER NOIDA: The supply of Ganga water in the city has once again missed its deadline as the Greater Noida authority is yet to complete the work on the pipeline network. Now, officials from the authority said that the Ganga water project will become operational in January next year.

The project has missed its latest deadline of October 2.

Senior officials of the Greater Noida authority on Thursday visited the primary water treatment plant built at Hapur’s Dehra from where Ganga water will reach Greater Noida’s Jaitpur reservoir.

The officials said that from Jaitpur reservoir the Ganga water will reach residents’ homes across the city.

“We are making all efforts so that the Ganga water reaches Jaitpur within a month. We hope all works will be completed by the end of this year, and the supply of Ganga water will start in January,” said Kapil Dev, senior manager of the Greater Noida authority.

Started in 2005, the ₹800 crore project was scheduled to be completed in 2010, but has missed several deadlines since then. First, the authority extended completion deadline to 2013. In April 2016, the authority had set March 2018 as the deadline for this project.

The project was delayed due to the non-availability of land. The farmers had refused to give the land for laying of water pipeline.

“We are doing our best to resolve land issues. Apart from some land issues, ongoing construction for dedicated industrial corridor involving laying of railway tracks and road construction in the city are also posing hurdles in laying pipelines,” said an authority official, seeking anonymity.

Residents said that the project has got delayed as the authority is not resolving land issues in a time-bound manner.

“As a result, we are failing to get quality drinking water. We depend on saline groundwater for drinking and other purposes,” said Om Raizada, a resident of Sector P3.

Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association, said, “The Greater Noida authority does not seem to be serious on delivery of Ganga water to city residents as the project keep missing deadlines.”

STARTED IN 2005, THE ₹800 CRORE GANGA WATER PROJECT WAS SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETED IN 2010, BUT HAS MISSED SEVERAL DEADLINES SINCE