The drowning of a 27-year-old software engineer in a deep pit in Noida filled with water on a foggy night is not a tragedy, it’s murder due to sheer negligence.
Yuvraj Mehta was returning home after a late Friday night duty in his office in Gurugram, when his car fell into a ditch. The pit was more than 20 feet deep. It was dug because of construction work going on nearby by two builders.
For three hours, Yuvraj shouted for help, lay on the roof of his car, rang up his father who rushed to the spot, opened his camera light to show his location, but everybody was helpless. Why?
Police reached the spot within 15 minutes, the fire brigade reached within half an hour, but they did nothing except sliding down ropes.
The fire brigade staff had neither a life jacket nor a boat. There were nearly 100 people watching this.
The fire brigade staff was unwilling to descend into the pit in foggy, cold weather. Finally, a delivery boy dared to dive into the water. By that time, Yuvraj’s body had become limp, lifeless.
It was three days after this tragedy that the Noida Authority woke up from slumber, put barricades and signage near the pit. A junior engineer was dismissed from his job.
The question is: What was the Noida authority doing when the pit was filled with water for the last two years? There had been similar drownings in the past. Why were there no streetlights to caution motorists and pedestrians?
Nothing can be sadder than a helpless father watching his son taking his last breath in front of his eyes.
A furious UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday removed Lokesh M, CEO of Noida Authority, from his post, put him on ‘waiting’, and formed a special investigation team to identify the culprits responsible for this negligence.
Yuvraj’s father Raj Kumar Mehta was staying in Noida with his son after his wife passed away. His daughter stays in UK.
Residents of Tata Eureka Park society in Noida Sector 150 say, they had been complaining to Noida Authority about this deep pit for the last two years, but no action was taken to put barricades and signages near the pit.
Noida Authority has filed cases against two builders M.J. Wish Town Planners and Lotus Green Construction, and one of the builders was arrested on Tuesday.
This is a clear case of sheer negligence. Local residents say, when they went to lodge complaints, the Additional CEO of Noida Authority shooed them away and even told them to go and approach the Supreme Court.
It is a shame that the fire brigade staff had no life jacket to deal with drowning incidents. The firemen were unwilling to dive into deep water on a foggy, cold night. They were only throwing ropes and preventing others who offered to dive and save Yuvraj.
Those responsible for this sheer negligence must be identified and punished.
Footnote: Insensitivity of some people touched a new depth when nearly 100 persons were making reels of this drowning and posting them on social media.
Time to ponder about how to deal with such people.
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