20-year-old Noida resident swept away by current in Yamuna during idol immersion, feared dead

At least four boats and 14 trained divers have been deployed since last night to look for the victim, said Delhi Boat Club officials.

A 20-year-old man is feared to have drowned in the Yamuna River after he slipped in the canal while trying to immerse an idol in the water and was carried off by currents, police said on Sunday, adding that a large-scale search and rescue operation, ongoing for nearly 24 hours, has failed to locate his body.

A large-scale search and rescue operation, ongoing for nearly 24 hours, has failed to locate his body, said police. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

Police have identified the victim as Vikas Kumar, a resident of sector 5, Harola area, Noida. The incident took place at Yamuna Khadar on Saturday a little after 7 pm.

Teams of the National Disaster Relief Force, fire services,Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the incident site to begin rescue operations by 8 pm.

At least four boats and 14 trained divers have been deployed since last night to look for the victim, said Delhi Boat Club officials.

The operations were halted around midnight due to low visibility and started back up at 6-6:30 am.

“One of the major challenges being faced is the strong current of water. Even divers ads facing difficulty to swim. Also, the water from Kondli Canal also comes here which adds to the current. We are trying to find the body,” said a Boat Club official.

Delhi Police was given information about the incident at around 8:30 pm by its UP counterpart. According to a preliminary enquiry conducted by theDelhi Police, around 8-10 young men, which included Kumar’s brother, cousins and friends, had gone from Harola to Yamuna toimmerse an idol of Goddess Saraswati around 7 pm.

When four people from the group, including Kumar, entered the water, they slipped. While the other three, with the help of locals, were pulled out of the water, Vikas was swept away due to the strong current of water, said the police.

The victim’s brother, Roshan Kumar, said “I was waiting outside when Vikas slipped. Others were also slipping but we managed to save them. We called locals as Vikas started screaming. The flow was high and he was swept away. We all threw ropes and tried looking on a boat but he was gone in seconds. We do this every year... didn’t know this would happen.”

East Delhi district magistrate Amol Srivastava, speaking to media at the incident site on Saturday night, said, “Between 8 and 8:15 pm on Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh Police received information about a young man falling into the Yamuna Canal. Upon receiving the information, local police and administrative teams immediately arrived at the scene and started the rescue operation. Considering the seriousness of the situation, the NDRF has also been called to the site at around 8:30 pm.”

Vikas was not married and worked odd jobs since he had been unemployed for sometime.