Road blocked to protest waterlogging

Ghaziabad: Traffic came to a standstill on the busy Meerut Road near New Bus Adda Metro Station for nearly one-and-a-half hours on Thursday morning after hundreds of Patel Nagar residents staged a protest against the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) over waterlogging issues in their area.
The residents complained that water regularly flows into their homes during heavy rains.They claimed a pillar has been constructed for the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor over a drain in the area, following the GMC’s nod, due to which it’s blocked. Their complaints have only fallen on deaf ears, the protesters alleged. “The blocked drain is the reason behind waterlogging in the area. Every time it rains heavily, water enters our homes. The situation has become pathetic after Wednesday’s downpour. We have asked the GMC officials to make another way so that water could pass easily. But nothing has been done yet. Hence, we are protesting,” said Varun Kumar, a resident.
According to the residents, nearly 90% of the houses here are affected. “Rain water entered my house last night. We had to shift our valuables to the first floor but there were many heavy items that could not be moved,” said Mukesh Singh, another resident. Police said the protesters had to be removed forcefully. “We told them to raise their complaints with the authorities concerned and not to make life difficult for commuters,” said Mithilesh Shukla, SHO, Sihani Gate .
Ghaziabad municipal commissioner Mahendra Singh admitted that “the residents have a genuine grievance”. “We are in touch with the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NRCTC). Although the agency has laid a pipe there, its discharge capacity is low. The NRCTC has assured us that they will rectify the problem and restore the drainage system in a phased manner. For now, we have installed a pump to drain out the accumulated water from the area,” he said.