Flats in most societies in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, cost crores of rupees. This city, designed to be a megacity, still suffers from poverty. During the rainy season, the city’s roads are flooded, and now, even without rain, a young engineer drowned in a flooded waterway due to a “systemic error.” The situation was such that the police, the administration, and even the SDRF and NDRF, formed to provide disaster relief, were aware of the situation, yet a young man drowned in water just feet from the road, while the system continued its course. The Noida incident has raised questions about administrative negligence in Delhi-NCR. Open drains, poor drainage, and neglect of road safety have led to fatal accidents in recent years. Between January 2024 and December 2025, 80 deaths were caused by drowning in Delhi alone, but this incident exposed the engineer’s suffering due to a dormant system.
The result of this slow pace of the system is that a father has lost his son and is pleading for justice. In the name of justice, some officers were transferred, others were removed, and a cover-up began. Delivery boy Moninder risked his life to save a young man drowning in a water-filled pit, but the administration on the spot remained a mute spectator. Shockingly, an accident had occurred at the same location 15 days earlier, but the authorities had not learned any lesson. Now the government has ordered the removal of the CEO of the Noida Authority and the formation of a special team to investigate the incident. The government machinery does wake up when a case escalates, but by then, an innocent person has already lost his life. Moninder alleges that when he arrived at the scene, the administration was already present. Yuvraj was lying on the roof of the car, using his mobile flashlight to plead for help. Moninder says, “The fire brigade team had a ladder and safety jackets, but they were waiting on the shore.
They told me to get into the water, and I jumped in. They were already there. Why didn’t they try?” Surprisingly, a truck had fallen into this same pit about two weeks earlier. Moninder had saved the life of the truck driver, Gurinder, at that time. Gurinder explains, “There are no reflectors in the area. When my truck fell into the pit, I thought there was ground below, but I fell straight into the water. Moninder pulled me out with a rope. When we sought help from the Noida Authority, they accused me of breaking the wall.” What could be more tragic than a young man trapped with his car in a water-filled pit, pleading for help with the help of his mobile phone for nearly an hour and a half, while the State Disaster Response Force and fire department teams present at the scene stood there, lamenting their helplessness. The rescue team lacked swimmers and adequate alternative resources.
Clearly, the primary cause of the young man’s death was not the accident itself but the gross negligence of the relevant authorities, the incompetence of the rescue team, and inadequate resources. It’s disturbing to imagine that despite the presence of teams designed to quickly respond to disasters and emergency situations and save as many lives as possible, the young man’s life couldn’t be saved. This incident clearly demonstrates that every organization offered its own rationale, or rather, excuses. The police claimed its personnel couldn’t swim, the fire brigade claimed it didn’t have a boat, and the NDRF and SDRF teams were delayed in arriving. This raises the question: if someone has spent millions to live in these cities, will they continue to rely on these excuses? Will the people of Noida receive only excuses in the name of justice when such accidents occur?
Gautam Buddha Nagar is considered a high-tech district in the state and the country. The district administration prepares the DDMA plan every year. Action plans are prepared to deal with every disaster, but the engineers’ rescue efforts were found to be lacking in resources. The SIT team found numerous flaws on the spot, but the officers appeared defensive. When the team asked where the water in the plot came from, the authority officials said it was rainwater, but the team was unconvinced, saying the rainwater must have dried up long ago. This incident exposes the Noida Authority’s gross negligence. This road has been in this condition for 10-12 years. Wastewater from all the societies in Sector 150 collects here, but the authority never paid any attention. Now, after the incident, barricades and stones are being installed, but why not before? Local residents are deeply angry, wondering who is responsible for these “wells of death” dug in the name of development? People say that no senior official even considered it necessary to visit the site the day after the incident, but when the matter gained international attention, officers arrived on the third day.
