Off late our Sector 61 has turned into a dust bowl. Wherever you look you will find a thick layer of dust. Be it cars, houses, trees everything is covered in dust. This is mainly due to the ongoing construction and renovation activities all around and to top it, the smog that has engulfed the whole region.
This dust, apart from being hard to clean, is very harmful for the health of residents. Residents who inhale this dust everyday can become vulnerable to many 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. Another reason for this dust is the manual sweeping of the roads which also leads to dust flying around and settling on nearby surfaces. Ultimately, whatever the reason, it is the residents who are facing the brunt of this. A lady resident of our sector said that her whole day is spent cleaning and dusting her home. How much ever you clean the dust returns. Another senior citizen of our 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 smog and 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. Also as per the orders of NGT water should be sprayed on the roads and areas near the construction site 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. These should also be done inside sectors so that dust does not fly around. For now the residents are left to spray water outside their individual houses to tackle this dust menace. The authorities should also come up with smart alternatives to manual sweeping of sector roads to further aid in controlling loose dust.
