Before Noida techie's death in Sector 150 pit, a close shave for truck driver

AMid the row o'er the demise of a 27-year-old adult male from Noida who drowned after his gondola drop into a water-filled ditch in Sector 150, a similar incident at the same spot has come to light.Two weeks before the tragic death of Yuvraj Mehta, a truck driver found himself in a similar situation near the same pit.Speaking to NDTV, Gurvinder Singh revealed that he fell into the ditch after his truck hit the drain wall and overshot.Also Read | 'Roads kill, bridges kill': Rahul Gandhi's fiery attack on Noida techie’s death in freak mishap"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 told the media house. Singh added that he fell into the ditch at around 12:30 AM and two hours later, cops arrived at the scene.However, his rescue did not take place until 4 AM, when local residents responded to his pleas for help and pulled him out.A similar testimony was given by Moninder, the delivery agent who dived into the pit to save Mehta. As per a PTI report, the delivery agent cited Singh's incident and the driver was rescued by locals using ropes and a ladder, while the officials did nothing.When asked if a team from Noida authority came to his rescue, the truck driver told NDTV that they reached out to him the next day and asked for money due to the damage caused to the drain wall."A team from the authority came around noon and asked who would pay for the damaged wall. I told them that I barely survived," Singh told NDTV.Furthermore, a report by PTI claims that the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department flagged the need to drain the excess water back in 2023, but the project never materialised.The report added that the state authorities reportedly wrote to the Noida authority, directing the installation of regulators in Sector 150 to channelise the excess water into the Hindon river, but no action was taken.Techie's death sparks row as residents demand action against Noida authorityFollowing the untimely death of Mehta, the Uttar Pradesh government removed the Noida Authority chief executive officer Lokesh M and has ordered a probe into the death.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also taken cognizance of the issue and called for an SIT probe into the incident.Yuvraj Mehta drowned to death after his car fell into a water-filled ditch in Noida. As per eyewitnesses, Mehta managed climb onto the roof of his submerged car and called his father.Emergency services, including the fire department and State Disaster Response Force were also alerted, but the rescue efforts were thwarted by darkness, dense fog and the pit's distance from the road.