Ponty's Wave causing dust wave in Noida
19 May 2012 7:17 AM GMT
Looks like Wave City Centre got its flow finally. Noida authority, satisfied with the explanations of the promoter, has given green signal to the real estate giant Ponty Chadha's latest venture on Wednesday. But unfortunately for the residents nearby, the dust wave that the project whipped up, is something that they are still forced to live with.
On 14 May, the authorities had put a stop to the project alleging that the company had started the construction without getting the layout approved. They had also raised the issue that in the process of building the Wave City, the company had set loose a dust storm, which is adversely affecting the health of the nearby residents. The authority officials are now apparently satisfied with the claim of the company that they have covered the dug up soil and are spraying water regularly over it.
'It is just paper work for the authority officials. Nobody wants to take things seriously. Anybody can see that the moulds of dug up soil are causing dust to drift into homes,' said Manoj Gupta, president of Sector 35 RWA. The construction site is surrounded by residential Sectors 31 and 36 from south, Sectors 33 and 35 from north and Sector 39 from east. The other sectors adjoining the area are sector 25, 22 and 12.
'This has become a nightmare. We are unable to sit in our balconies. They should have planned it in a better way before starting the construction,' said Deep Vohar, a resident of Sector 39 and president of RWA. Her views were echoed by other residents and RWA members in other sectors.
When Millennium Post correspondent visited the site, mounds of dug up soil were yet to be covered. Digging was on full swing and dust was blowing into the air. A few trucks have been deployed to remove the soil, but they were also not covered, thus scattering the dust even more.
'The authority must cancel the project. We have been demanding the government to construct shopping mall and lease it out to local unemployed youths, but they sold the entire land for quick money,' alleged N P Singh, president of Federation of RWAs in Noida (FONRWA). 'Once the shopping complex is constructed, it would create huge traffic jams as the roads are too narrow to accommodate even the present traffic pressure,' added Singh.
In 2005, the land was earmarked for the headquarters of Noida authority, which wanted to bring all the departments and facilities under one roof. The layout and budget was finalised between 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, but it never took off. The site was finally sold to Wave group in February 2011.
'We did our best to prevent the allotment of this land to a realtor, but the officials changed the land use from residential to commercial and amended other provisions so that the Wave group could benefit,' said Nawab Singh Nagar, senior BJP leader and former MLA, who had protested the project at the time of inception.
The floor-area ratio (FAR) was changed from one-and-half times to four-and-half times. The market value of the land is around Rs 6-7 lakh per sqm but it was sold for Rs 1.07 lakh to Wave group.
Wave City Center would have around 4 crore sq ft built up area. Of this, about one crore sq ft is earmarked for commercial purposes and hotel while the rest is available for residential use.
It is spread over more than 150 acres and would have 377 shops-cum-offices. There would be around 8,500 apartments, including studio apartments, 2 and 3 BHK apartments in the residential complexes.
'The company has produced all the required clearances and NOCs related to the project, including permission for digging at the site to our satisfaction. So we withdrew our objections,' said Manoj Rai, OSD in Noida Authority, under whose supervision the project falls.
Noida Authority on 14 May had issued a notice to Wave Mega City Centre Pvt Ltd to stop the digging work and provide a detailed report on the area and depth of dug up land and other details in three days.
'The company presented the no-objection certificates for mining issued by district magistrate office for digging, clearance from state and central environment bodies, and no-objection certificate from fire department,' added Rai. However, Noida Authority had also asked the company to cover the dug up soil, regularly spray water on it and remove it from the site at the earliest. The company had apparently submitted in writing before the authority officials to follow these instructions.
On 14 May, the authorities had put a stop to the project alleging that the company had started the construction without getting the layout approved. They had also raised the issue that in the process of building the Wave City, the company had set loose a dust storm, which is adversely affecting the health of the nearby residents. The authority officials are now apparently satisfied with the claim of the company that they have covered the dug up soil and are spraying water regularly over it.
'It is just paper work for the authority officials. Nobody wants to take things seriously. Anybody can see that the moulds of dug up soil are causing dust to drift into homes,' said Manoj Gupta, president of Sector 35 RWA. The construction site is surrounded by residential Sectors 31 and 36 from south, Sectors 33 and 35 from north and Sector 39 from east. The other sectors adjoining the area are sector 25, 22 and 12.
'This has become a nightmare. We are unable to sit in our balconies. They should have planned it in a better way before starting the construction,' said Deep Vohar, a resident of Sector 39 and president of RWA. Her views were echoed by other residents and RWA members in other sectors.
When Millennium Post correspondent visited the site, mounds of dug up soil were yet to be covered. Digging was on full swing and dust was blowing into the air. A few trucks have been deployed to remove the soil, but they were also not covered, thus scattering the dust even more.
'The authority must cancel the project. We have been demanding the government to construct shopping mall and lease it out to local unemployed youths, but they sold the entire land for quick money,' alleged N P Singh, president of Federation of RWAs in Noida (FONRWA). 'Once the shopping complex is constructed, it would create huge traffic jams as the roads are too narrow to accommodate even the present traffic pressure,' added Singh.
In 2005, the land was earmarked for the headquarters of Noida authority, which wanted to bring all the departments and facilities under one roof. The layout and budget was finalised between 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, but it never took off. The site was finally sold to Wave group in February 2011.
'We did our best to prevent the allotment of this land to a realtor, but the officials changed the land use from residential to commercial and amended other provisions so that the Wave group could benefit,' said Nawab Singh Nagar, senior BJP leader and former MLA, who had protested the project at the time of inception.
The floor-area ratio (FAR) was changed from one-and-half times to four-and-half times. The market value of the land is around Rs 6-7 lakh per sqm but it was sold for Rs 1.07 lakh to Wave group.
Wave City Center would have around 4 crore sq ft built up area. Of this, about one crore sq ft is earmarked for commercial purposes and hotel while the rest is available for residential use.
It is spread over more than 150 acres and would have 377 shops-cum-offices. There would be around 8,500 apartments, including studio apartments, 2 and 3 BHK apartments in the residential complexes.
'The company has produced all the required clearances and NOCs related to the project, including permission for digging at the site to our satisfaction. So we withdrew our objections,' said Manoj Rai, OSD in Noida Authority, under whose supervision the project falls.
Noida Authority on 14 May had issued a notice to Wave Mega City Centre Pvt Ltd to stop the digging work and provide a detailed report on the area and depth of dug up land and other details in three days.
'The company presented the no-objection certificates for mining issued by district magistrate office for digging, clearance from state and central environment bodies, and no-objection certificate from fire department,' added Rai. However, Noida Authority had also asked the company to cover the dug up soil, regularly spray water on it and remove it from the site at the earliest. The company had apparently submitted in writing before the authority officials to follow these instructions.
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