A 27-year-old software engineer died tragically on Sunday after his car plunged into a 20-foot-deep, water-filled pit at a construction site in Greater Noida’s Sector 150. Despite an over five-hour rescue operation, the young man could not be saved, prompting public outcry and sharp criticism over the rescue team's perceived failure.
The deceased was identified as Yuvraj Mehta, a resident of Tata Eureka Park society in Sector 150.
The incident took place on Saturday night. Dense fog and overspeeding might have caused the accident, said the officials. According to the Knowledge Park police station officials, they received the call around 12.15 am that a car had fallen into a pit. Though a search operation was launched, the body could be recovered only on Sunday morning.
The coordinated efforts of the fire department, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the local police were in vain as they could not rescue the engineer on time.
Alleging negligence, local residents staged a protest against the Noida Authority. They claimed that this is not the first time such an incident happened; there were many instances in the past, too.
The account of the delivery agent, Moninder, who jumped into the water to rescue the youngster, also revealed that there was initial negligence by the state authorities. He alleged that the rescue personnel were reluctant initially to enter the water due to cold, poor visibility and the presence of iron rods at the construction site.
"I tied a rope around my waist and went into the water myself. I searched for the youth and his car for around 30 minutes," Moninder told reporters. He also added that if the rescue team reached him before, he could have been saved.
He claimed that he saw Mehta standing on the roof of the car.
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Moninder said a similar incident took place earlier when a truck driver fell into the pit. But he was rescued by the locals using ropes and a ladder.
Mehta's father, Raj Kumar Mehta, also said that his son could have been saved if there had been an expert diving team. Describing his last conversation with his son, Raj Kumar alleged negligence at the site.
However, the police rejected the allegations and said that proper efforts were carried out by the rescue team. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajeev Narayan Mishra said police and fire department teams made efforts to save the youth and deployed a crane, ladder, makeshift boat and searchlights, but visibility was near zero due to fog.