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Newslaundry
Newslaundry
National
Anmol Pritam

‘This is why he wanted to leave India’: Noida techie death raises civic safety questions

The tragic death of Yuvraj Mehta, a 27-year-old techie who drowned in a water-filled pit at a construction site in Noida’s Sector 150, has put Noida’s administration under severe scrutiny for negligence. 

Mehta died after his car crashed through a compromised boundary wall and plunged into the flooded construction site just after midnight on Saturday. 

Anger is growing among locals, with some alleging that the government is trying to cover up the incident. Yuvraj’s father has blamed the administration. According to media reports, he also alleged that the police were unable to help Yuvraj because the rope they had couldn't reach him.

Speaking to Newslaundry, Yuvraj’s friend Pankaj echoed these accusations. “My friend kept pleading for help from the roof of his sinking car for two hours, but the rescue team did nothing.” He said Yuvraj often spoke about India’s lack of development, particularly in basic civic safety.

“He used to say that India lacks safety measures and proper development. The roads are bad, the facilities are poor, and on top of that, we have to pay so much in taxes. That’s why he wanted to move to the US to be with his sister. But his mother had passed away, and his father lived alone, so he stayed back. But looking at how he died, it seems he was absolutely right.”

Even though it has been more than three days since Yuvraj’s death, his car has not yet been recovered, and the NDRF team is still working on recovering it.

Meanwhile, anger among residents is escalating. They said that about 15 days ago, a truck accident occurred at the same spot, but the driver survived. Residents remarked that if the administration had acted then and installed streetlights, signboards, and barricades on the road, Yuvraj might have been alive today.

When we visited Sector 150, we found that roads were broken in many places, and there were few barricades and streetlights.

Watch.

Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.

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