NOIDA: The lack of potable water supply in villages has irked locals. According to the residents in the villages, the majority of them face incomplete work of water pipeline lays. In its absence, locals resort to groundwater extraction through unauthorised submersible pumps adding to its depletion.A delegation of the village residents association met MLA Pankaj Singh over the issue and demanded the completion of the water pipeline laying along with regular water supply.There are 81 villages in Noida where the majority including Sadarpur near Sector 45, Chhalera near Sector 44, Salarpur near Sector 102, Mamura near Sector 66 and Behlolpur near Sector 63 etc are neighbouring urban residential sectors and are densely populated ranging from 4 to 2.5 lakh residents. Locals decry the neglect of villages with regard to basic amenities like water, sewer, power etc.While it is claimed by Noida Authority that it provides clean water to all the villages of Noida, the truth is far from it. There are many villages adjacent to urban sectors in Noida where water pipelines were laid only in the main streets years ago and supply has not been given to date in most of the other parts of the villages. Some of these villages include Chhalera, Sadarpur, Bhangel, Salarpur etc, said Ranjan Tomar president of the Noida Village Residents Association (NOVRA).According to Tomar, the population in villages has grown exponentially along with the growth of Noida, but basic civic amenities of water, sewer and power have remained neglected. People either have to install RO filters or get water from outside. However, the majority of residents of the villages have installed submersible pumps and draw unauthorised groundwater. If the authority does not redress the issue, then we will be forced to protest, said Tomar whos earlier held protests on the issue.As against official figures of a few lakh population in villages, today, the reality is that each urban village in Noida has a population ranging from 2 to 4 lakh. The majority of houses are three to four floors and mostly on rent where labourers, factory/industry workers, domestic maids, drivers etc comprise the bulk of the village population owing to low rents. But the issues of water and sewer have not been ramped up with increasing demand, said Tomar.While Sonu Chauhan of Nangli Wajidpur said that there is no water supply in most of the villages, Shekhar Chauhan, a resident of Chhaprauli village, said that in his village there is no facility to provide any kind of drinking water by the authority. Even today people quench their thirst with submersible water, said Chauhan.Tomar maintained that since the daily water requirement of villages is largely dependent on submersible pumps, which are unauthorised, the issue has led to the depletion of groundwater, a problem faced by Noida at large.The NOVRA delegation met MLA Pankaj Singh on all these issues and sought answers. The authority must include its villages in its future plans and just like extending basic civic amenities to its residential sectors, it should do the same for the villages. These are some of the points we raised from MLA Pankaj Singh in our meeting with him, said Ajit Singh patron of NOVRA.Noida MLA Pankaj Singh assured the delegation of a resolution to the problem. He said he will call for a meeting with Noida Authority CEO this month after Diwali, November 15and seek a solution to the problem, said Tomar.

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