On January 16, a freezing winter night bathed in heavy fog, Yuvraj Mehta drowned in Noida's Sector 150. His car fell into a unmarked water-filled ditch on a construction site bordering the road, a road without streetlights to warn motorists of a potentially unsafe 90-degree left turn
Nearly a month later, on the night of February 5, as most of the rest of Delhi huddled under blankets to keep out the cold, Kamal died after his motorcycle fell into a pit, dug for construction work linked to the Delhi Jal Board and left, it appears, open without guardrails or barriers to prevent just such accidents.
The similarities between the two tragedies have not been missed and have kicked up a political row, with AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj criticising the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
On X Bharadwaj, whose Aam Aadmi Party was thumped in last year's Delhi election, said, "Shocking… the BJP government in Delhi has learned nothing from the Noida incident…"
The Delhi government responded swiftly; Home Minister Ashish Sood declared himself "deeply hurt" and said, "Instructions for investigation of the incident have been issued…"
What happened in Noida?
Yuvraj was less than a kilometre from his home in Tata Eureka Park when tragedy struck.
RECAP | Trapped Techie, Helpless Father, And Fog: 90 Minutes Of Noida Horror
He lost control of his Grand Vitara car near the last turn on the road to his home, apparently due to low visibility. The car overshot the road and fell into a ditch at a construction site.
According to reports, the ditch was being built as the basement of the upcoming project.
Yuvraj immediately called his father and asked for help. For the next 90-odd minutes the young man waited desperately for that help but it never came.
This was despite crowds gathering at the accident spot, including, per some reports, emergency personnel. A combination of the darkness, the cold, and fear of personal injury kept rescuers at bay till Mehta died.
The horrible incident was not without precedent; a truck met with a similar accident at the same spot a few days earlier but local officials failed, even then, to install basic safety equipment.
RECAP | Trucker Escaped Where Noida Techie Died, Demands Murder Charges
The fallout included the arrest of the builders who owned the construction site; investigations revealed the land was bought from the Noida Authority in 2014 by Lotus Greens Construction and transferred to MZ Wiztown Planners in in 2020. Lotus Greens retained a stake in the land.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Uttar Pradesh government, is probing the case.
