Who was Yuvraj Mehta? Noida Techie Drowns After Car Falls Into Basement, FIR Against Builder

India

oi-Ashish Rana

An
FIR
has
been
registered
against
a
builder
after
a
27-year-old
software
engineer
drowned
when
his
car
broke
through
the
boundary
wall
of
a
roadside
drain
and
plunged
into
a
water-filled
basement
at
an
under-construction
commercial
site
in
Greater
Noida’s
Sector
150
early
on
Saturday.

The
victim,
Yuvraj
Mehta,
remained
trapped
for
nearly
two
hours
despite
repeatedly
calling
for
help,
raising
serious
questions
about
construction
safety,
emergency
response
and
civic
accountability.

Police
said
preliminary
findings
point
towards
poor
visibility
due
to
dense
fog
and
overspeeding
as
possible
causes.
“They
had
dug
a
large
drain,
around
six
to
seven
feet
wide.
Due
to
poor
visibility
and
high
speed,
the
driver
appears
to
have
lost
control,” Assistant
Commissioner
of
Police
Hemant
Upadhyay
said.

Who
was
Yuvraj
Mehta

Yuvraj
Mehta,
27,
lived
with
his
father
Rajkumar
Mehta
at
Tata
Eureka
Park
society
in
Sector
150,
Greater
Noida.
A
software
engineer
by
profession,
he
worked
in
customer
data
science
with
a
reputed
Gurugram-based
company.
His
father
is
a
retired
State
Bank
of
India
director,
while
his
mother
passed
away
a
few
years
ago.
His
elder
sister
lives
in
the
United
Kingdom.

Friends
and
family
described
Yuvraj
as
a
hardworking
young
professional
who
travelled
daily
between
Noida
and
Gurugram.
The
accident
occurred
barely
500
metres
from
his
residence.

What
happened
on
the
foggy
night

The
incident
took
place
between
12:15
am
and
12:30
am
on
Saturday
amid
extremely
low
visibility
due
to
dense
fog.
Near
a
T-point
close
to
ATS
Le
Grandiose
Society,
an
under-construction
mall
or
commercial
plot
had
a
deep,
water-filled
basement
excavated
for
construction
purposes.

According
to
police
and
eyewitness
accounts,
the
boundary
wall
of
a
roadside
drain
measuring
around
six
to
seven
feet
in
width
was
either
damaged
or
inadequately
secured.
There
were
no
barricades,
reflectors
or
warning
signs
in
place.
While
taking
a
turn
at
high
speed,
Yuvraj
lost
control
of
his
Grand
Vitara,
which
smashed
through
the
wall
and
fell
nearly
20
to
30
feet
into
the
flooded
basement
containing
a
mix
of
rainwater
and
sewage.

Although
the
vehicle
initially
floated
for
some
time,
Yuvraj
managed
to
climb
onto
the
roof
of
the
car.
Using
his
phone’s
torch,
he
began
shouting
for
help
and
calling
his
father.

‘Papa,
I
don’t
want
to
die’:
desperate
calls
for
help

In
a
chilling
account
of
his
final
moments,
Yuvraj
repeatedly
called
his
father
and
pleaded
for
rescue.
“Papa,
I
am
trapped…
the
car
has
fallen
into
a
drain…
the
water
is
extremely
cold…
please
save
me…
I
don’t
want
to
die,” he
said
during
the
call.

Rajkumar
Mehta
rushed
to
the
spot
but
could
only
hear
his
son’s
voice
in
the
darkness
and
fog.
A
delivery
agent,
Moninder,
who
attempted
a
rescue,
later
said,
“He
kept
shouting
for
nearly
one
hour
and
forty-five
minutes,
‘Please
save
me.’
I
myself
searched
in
the
water
for
about
30
minutes
but
could
not
find
him.”

Yuvraj’s
friend
Pankaj
alleged
that
although
rescue
teams
reached
the
site
around
2:30
am,
they
did
not
enter
the
water
until
about
3:20
am.
By
then,
the
opportunity
to
save
him
had
slipped
away.
His
body
was
recovered
between
4
am
and
4:30
am.

Rescue
delay,
builder
negligence
and
official
response

Police,
fire
brigade
teams,
SDRF
and
NDRF
personnel
eventually
reached
the
location,
but
the
rescue
operation
stretched
over
four
to
five
hours.
Family
members
and
witnesses
alleged
that
rescue
personnel
initially
refused
to
enter
the
cold,
debris-filled
water,
citing
safety
risks.

Police,
however,
defended
the
response,
stating
that
the
darkness,
fog,
depth
of
the
pit
and
presence
of
iron
rods
made
the
operation
extremely
dangerous.
Officials
maintained
that
untrained
entry
could
have
resulted
in
more
casualties
and
claimed
that
all
possible
efforts
were
made.

The
victim’s
family
and
local
residents
have
squarely
blamed
the
Noida
Authority
and
the
builder
for
negligence.
They
allege
that
the
plot
had
remained
excavated
for
nearly
two
years
with
stagnant
water,
despite
repeated
demands
for
barricading,
reflectors
and
proper
lighting.
Following
public
protests,
police
registered
an
FIR
against
the
builder
and
said
further
action
would
depend
on
the
post-mortem
report
and
investigation
findings.

This
tragedy
has
once
again
exposed
glaring
lapses
in
construction
site
management,
road
safety
measures
and
emergency
response
systems,
turning
the
loss
of
a
young
professional
into
a
painful
reminder
of
systemic
apathy.