Noida: Transporting bodies of Covid patients is proving to be a challenge for family members as ambulance drivers are charging anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 14,000 to head to the nearest crematorium, even if it is just a few kilometres away. Some drivers in the city have also been charging Rs 500 an hour to wait outside crematoriums, which are overwhelmed with bodies.
Residents said that just like hospital beds, it was extremely difficult to get an ambulance in the city. Even if somebody managed to get one, he or she would have to shell out an amount equivalent to the fee of an ICU bed at any private hospital.
NOIDA: The residents welfare association (RWA) of Garima Vihar in Sector 35 have complained to the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Noida Authority over untended sewer water falling in the open drain near the residential sector, raising foul smell. Drain are uncleaned and tile work is incomplete, according to the residents.
“We have written to the Noida Authority CEO, Ritu Maheshwari, over the long, pending demand for basic civic work which is creating a lot of problems for the residents of the sector. A lot of garbage is collected on the green belt, especially at the entrance, which is now used as a garbage dumping spot. Apart from this, sewage water from the green belt is continuously flowing into the main drain. As a result, a foul smell emanates from the big drain. Despite repeated complaints, the matter has not been addressed,” said Devendra Kharbanda, the RWA president of Garima Vihar.