Noida Voters Prioritize Environmental Concerns, Healthcare, Infrastructure, and Basic Amenities

Noida and Greater Noida voters prioritize pollution, clean water, healthcare, affordable transportation, and connectivity. Key concerns include air and water quality, high-rise safety, and access to basic amenities like schools, hospitals, and public transport. Voters demand solution to issues like traffic congestion, encroachment, and lack of grassroots democracy. Flat buyers express concerns about delayed registry and lack of facilities in Noida Extension. Safety, connectivity, and infrastructure development are also high on the voters' agenda.

Pollution, clean water, healthcare, affordable public transport and last-mile connectivity are some of the key issues that voters in Noida and Greater Noida have on their minds as they gear up for Lok Sabha election on Friday.

Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha constituency comprises the cities of Noida, Greater Noida and the recently-developed Noida Extension, also known as Greater Noida (West).

BJP's Mahesh Sharma won the Lok Sabha polls here in 2014 and 2019 and is seeking a third term, while Samajwadi Party's Mahendra Nagar and BSP's Rajendra Solanki are among top contenders for the seat.

The largely-urban constituency adjoining Delhi is known as the financial capital of Uttar Pradesh and a show window of the state, thanks to a large number of industries, factories and high-rise settlements here.

''Ease of living for middle class families, especially those living in condominiums, needs to be the top priority for our public representatives. This starts by providing basic infrastructure for good quality drinking water and clean air to breathe,'' said Rajiva Singh, president of the Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Association.

Singh highlighted the need of safety from fire accidents, smooth lift operations, structural safety and waste management and general cleanliness as top expectations of high-rise societies' residents.

''We need to make Noida a world-class city and also develop it as an international tourist destination,'' he said.

City resident Brajesh Sharma said a public representative should be agile and accessible to people when needed and he should not have to show the ''prime minister's achievements as his achievement''.

''Infrastructure development, metro, last-mile connectivity, public transport, water, pollution, electricity bill, builder's arrogance in society-related issues, employment, health and government education at higher and lower levels should be targeted in the long term,'' Sharma said.

Amit Gupta, who lives in Sector 77, highlighted pollution, traffic jams, encroachment on city roads and footpaths, and shortage of clean, drinking water with high TDS among the major issues.

''The issue of pollution is not a priority for anyone. From October to February, pollution is so bad that everyone gets worried. However, pollution is a problem throughout the year,'' Gupta said.

''There is not a single road where you will not find (traffic) jam, especially in the evening or early morning,'' he said, adding that traffic police personnel has gone up in the city yet the situation has worsened.

Noida and Greater Noida do not have village panchayats or municipal corporations and that is also an issue for many.

Rohilapur village resident Ranjan Tomar batted for a system of ''democratic decentralisation'' and wished that the MP should take up matters of villages with the local Noida Authority.

''There is virtually no grassroots-level constitutional democracy,'' said Tomar, an advocate and president of Noida Village Residents Association.

''The MP should be more available to directly make meeting with police, Noida Authority and the district administration possible when needed,'' he said.

Tomar said promises made to village inhabitants whose lands were acquired and who were assured of jobs and a place for their wards in schools in return should be fulfilled. Farmers rights also need to be addressed, he added.

Noida Extension resident Shweta Bharti said the new city, where a population of over lakhs has settled, does not have a single government school, college, university, hospital. She added that it also lacks piped water supply from Ganga, good public transport and roads, etc.

''Many promises were made to connect Greater Noida (West) with metro, but nothing was done. Due to large population, people have to face the problem of traffic jam every day,'' she said.

Dust and pollution is also a big problem here, which no one has seriously tried to solve, Bharti said.

''Ignoring flat buyers will also affect the Lok Sabha elections of Gautam Buddh Nagar this time. Education, health and city development will be the main issues for me this election,'' she added.

Annu Khan, president of Noida Extension Flat Owners and Members Association (NEFOMA), too rued the lack of basic facilities in the area.

''Non-availability of metro is a big problem, for which last month I met MP Hardeep Puri Singh in Parliament and apprised him about the problem. There is no community hall in Greater Noida West. There is no government college, no big government school, no government hospital facility, no cremation ground facility, there is no big park,'' he said.

Khan added that due to the problem of registry, society residents have been running from pillar to post over the last decade.

S K Majumdar, 72, who lives in Greater Noida's Omega-I said encroachment of designated parking places in community shopping markets is a major concern.

''Ongoing access and interaction with our local representative on key issues is of paramount importance for us as citizens,'' he said.

Laureen Momin, a working professional, raised concern about people's safety ''across vast stretches of developing and under development areas''.

''Public transportation is limited to few arterial roads and getting anywhere else becomes a nightmare of haggling with high charging auto drivers or sharing seats in autos,'' she said.

Noida resident Naveen Dubey said delayed registry and handing over possession of flats to buyers is the biggest issue in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)