Trucker Escaped Death Where Techie Died, Says Noida Admin Asked Him To Pay

Amid allegations of apathy and negligence against the Noida administration in the aftermath of a 27-year-old techie's death due to drowning, NDTV has spoken to a truck driver who miraculously survived an accident at the same spot about two weeks back.

Gurvinder Singh's narration of events strengthens allegations of the administration's lack of preparedness and poor response to such emergencies.

"The drain and the ditch are barely 10 steps from the road. There is no signboard or barricade. The truck hit the drain wall and overshot. The front tyres were in the air, and the middle ones got stuck on the wall. I jumped off the truck and landed in neck-deep water," he said. "I fell into the ditch around 12.30. Around 4 am, some local residents helped me out. Two cops came around two hours after I had fallen, but they did nothing. If the district administration wanted, an excavator could have been brought immediately," he said.

Asked if a team from the Noida authority came to help him, Gurvinder had a shocking reply. "A team from the authority came around noon and asked who would pay for the damaged wall. I told them that I barely survived," he said.

Gurvinder Singh escaped death after his truck overshot the road at the same site earlier this month

Gurvinder said he has suffered internal injuries and has been stammering since the traumatic incident.

Eighteen days after Gurvinder's close shave, software engineer Yuvraj Mehta was returning to his home in Sector 150 from his Gurugram workplace around midnight on Friday when his car overshot the road and landed in the ditch. About 90 minutes later, despite rescue efforts by cops and firefighters, Yuvraj drowned in the ditch. His body was found early the next morning. The car is yet to be recovered.

"This man died. Who knows how many more people would die? There is no barricade or signboard there. The administration is responsible. If the administration wanted, an excavator would have come in minutes," he said. Gurvinder said he has been a driver for 20 years now. "We get to know if the wheels have overshot the road. As soon as I realised what had happened, I pulled the handbrake. Still, the truck hit the wall," he said. "This is my second life. Guruji saved me."

Yuvraj's death has led to a wave of criticism against the Noida administration and its disaster response apparatus, raising questions about why the techie could not be saved despite the presence of cops and firefighters on the spot. Eyewitnesses have alleged that cops and firefighters were wary of jumping into the water because they feared there could be rods inside. The police have trashed this charge and said dense fog hindered their efforts to rescue Yuvraj. Questions have also been raised on why basic safety measures, such as installing barricades and reflectors, were not followed, leading to the tragedy.

The Yogi Adityanath government has now formed a three-member Special Investigation Team to probe the incident. CEO of Noida authority Lokesh M has also been shunted out.