Noida: Civic neglect has dampened the festive spirit of Chhath in several parts of the city and neighbouring Ghaziabad.Sectors 100 and 72 in Noida continued to face power cuts on Friday. Residents have claimed that the power fluctuations have worsened since Diwali last week. In Sector 144, residents complained that the dirty water supply was unfit even for routine household chores.Pawan Yadav, a resident of Century Apartments in Sector 100, said frequent power cuts had become a daily concern. “For the past 10 years, our sector has rarely gone a day without a power cut,” he said. Despite paying their electricity bills on time, residents continue to face erratic supply, a problem reported across several Noida sectors. The situation persisted during Diwali and on Friday, the first day of Chhath Puja, he added.Meanwhile, garbage has been piling up along the roadside in sectors 51 and 144 and several areas in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram. In Siddharth Vihar, residents complained that a garbage pile left behind by vegetable vendors was even burnt on Thursday.The garbage dumps have left residents questioning Noida’s Swachh rankings. The city has retained its place in the Super Swachh League (SSL) category in the 10th edition of Swachh Survekshan, whose results were declared on Wednesday, and was ranked the cleanest in the state. The city made it to the Super Swachh League among 23 cities in 2024-25. The league identifies cities that have ranked in the top three over the past three years.Residents claim that the door-to-door garbage pickup service has been inconsistent over the past two months. People have now started dumping the garbage bags inside drains or on the dividers. The problem is acute in Sector 51.A resident of the sector, Sanjeev Kumar, said, “This should be seen as a failure of Noida Authority’s municipal services. Residents and the welfare associations had warned about this repeatedly.” He said this should be a wake-up call for the Authority. “Cleanliness cannot be achieved through short-term efforts; it requires daily diligence and commitment.”In Ghaziabad, garbage dumped in a vacant plot near Siddharth Vihar was set on fire on Thursday evening. NK Negima, a resident of Prateek Grand City, Siddharth Vihar, said this is blatant flouting of GRAP norms. “There are no checks by the local administration or the municipal corporation to stop this.”
