The family of 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, who died after his car plunged into a water-filled pit in Sector 150 here early Saturday, has alleged serious lapses in rescue efforts, accusing emergency responders of delaying action.
The incident has triggered sharp questions over the preparedness of local authorities, with nearly 80 personnel from multiple agencies present at the site but unable to save the young man.
According to Yuvraj’s father, Rajkumar Mehta, he rushed to the spot after receiving a desperate phone call from his son, who said he was drowning. However, thick fog and darkness made it extremely difficult to locate the submerged vehicle.
“Somehow, when I called him, he switched on the torchlight of his phone inside the car, because of which we could see a faint little light. But it was so difficult for anybody to get inside the water body. Police and other rescue officials tried throwing a rope, but to no avail,” Rajkumar Mehta told Aaj Tak news channel.
He alleged that despite police, fire department personnel and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) being present, no one entered the pit immediately. “Police were called, and some people nearby also tried to help, but nothing could be done to save my son,” he said.
The grieving father further claimed that rescue personnel cited freezing water and the presence of hidden iron rods inside the pit as reasons for not entering it. “If expert divers had gone in, maybe my son could have been saved,” he said.
Police said the accident occurred when Mehta’s car veered off the road and fell into a nearly 20-foot-deep pit dug for the basement of an under-construction building. Moments after the crash, Mehta managed to call his father, saying, “Dad, I’ve fallen into a deep pit filled with water. I’m drowning. Please come and save me. I don’t want to die,” before the call disconnected.
A search and rescue operation was launched around 12.15 am, involving teams from the local police, fire services, SDRF and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). After nearly five hours, the car and Mehta were pulled out of the pit. He was declared dead at around 4 am, and his body was sent for post-mortem examination.
Mehta, a resident of Tata Eureka Park society in Sector 150, worked as a software engineer with a firm in Gurugram and was returning home from work when the accident occurred. Preliminary investigation suggested that fog and overspeeding may have caused him to lose control of the vehicle, police said, adding that the car appeared to have crossed a drain before plunging into the pit.
Following the incident, residents staged protests against the Noida Authority, alleging negligence and pointing out that similar accidents had occurred earlier at the same spot. They claimed repeated complaints regarding the lack of barricading and reflectors near the drain had gone unaddressed.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Noida) Rajiv Narayan Mishra confirmed that an FIR has been registered based on the family’s complaint. “We tried every possible way and made all efforts to save his life. The SDRF was also on site, but visibility was near zero. Based on the family’s complaint, an FIR has been registered, and action will be taken against anyone found guilty,” he said.