Sector 77 residents have their share of persistent issues; whether its traffic snarls, unauthorised vendors, lack of cleanliness and so on. The latest issue to join the list is dust pollution. The residents are worried about the amount of dust that they inhale on a daily basis and its long term consequences.
Dust pollution is a major source of respiratory diseases and residents who inhale this dust everyday can become vulnerable to many such respiratory disorders. People with asthma are the worst affected as it becomes very difficult for them to breathe and have to stay indoors. This dust when combined with the smog that we are witnessing nowadays becomes more harmful. The main cause for this dust pollution in sector 77 is the never ending construction. If you were to stand in the balcony of any high rise society in the sector you would be able to see numerous construction sites all around. The loose construction material lying in the open is a major contributor to this dust that we see all around us. Another reason for this dust is the manual sweeping of the roads which also leads to dust flying around and settling on nearby surfaces. It has also been noted that sometime back, the Noida Authority had made the areas alongside roads dust free zones by planting grass alongside these stretches but off late the grass has totally vanished; partly due to lack of care by the authorities and partly due to encroachment of the dust free zones by unauthorised vendors. Ultimately, whatever the reason, it is the residents who are facing the brunt of it. A senior citizen of the sector says that he is suffering from asthma and it is becoming very difficult for him to breathe freely. Many senior citizens have stopped going for morning walks to avoid the dust that has settled in the air. The intermittent rains that the city witnessed in between did give some respite and washed away the dust from trees and buildings, but the dust build up has returned.
Although the competent authorities have issued many directives to tackle the dust issue, it seems that it is all in papers only, because the ground reality is very different. There are no dust barriers put up at various construction sites and construction material continues to lay in the open. Also as per the orders of NGT water should be sprayed on the roads and areas near construction sites but that is not the case. The Noida Authority does get water sprayed on the roads and also uses mist canons to control this dust but the use of these is limited to only a few select main roads and intersections. The dust free zones alongside roads should be freed from encroachments and the grass should be replanted. The Authorities must act soon to curb this menace or else it will have grave and long lasting effects on the health of residents.
