Sadullapur, a village of 7,000 residents inside the Greater Noida development zone, was tagged a smart village in 2015 with promises of paved roads, a reliable water supply, and an underground drainage system. Eleven years later, its main access road is an unpaved dirt track, its drain culverts are broken, and the nearest hospital takes a minimum of sixty minutes to reach despite being barely three kilometres away.
The village is one of 14 Greater Noida settlements that were earmarked for development under the smart village programme, a scheme administered by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA). The programme promised street lighting, community centres, parks, Wi-Fi connectivity, and facilities for persons with disabilities, among other things. None of it has materialised in Sadullapur, according to residents.
