Ghaziabad: 19-year-old drowns in flooded locality of Loni

The colony was inundated after the recent breach in the Alipur bankment and water from overflowing Yamuna entered at least nine villages.

A 19-year-old man drowned in a flooded plot near his house in Ram Park colony in Ghaziabad’s Loni and his body was recovered on Sunday, police said.

People are forced to remain indoors or to the roof of their houses after water entered their homes in Ghaziabad on Tuesday. (Sakib Ali /HT Photo)

The colony was inundated after the recent breach in the Alipur bankment and water from overflowing Yamuna entered at least nine villages, Tronica City industrial area and nearby localities on the intervening night of July 13/14.

The police identified the man as Ritik Singh, who was living with his family at Ram Park, and his body was recovered on Sunday and sent for an autopsy.

According to police, the flood waters also entered Singh’s house and his family members decided to move to their relative’s place but he insisted on staying back.

“His family returned on Sunday evening after the water level decreased somewhat but could not find Singh.They launched a search and found his body in a flooded vacant plot nearby and police were informed. We sent the body for autopsy. No foul play has emerged in the incident so far. It prima facie appears to be a case of drowning. The area had about six feet of water and later it receded to about three feet,” said Rajneesh Kumar Upadhyaya, assistant commissioner of police (Loni).

He said there could be several reasons behind such cases of drowning.

“There are cases of drowning that happen after victim consume alcohol and get stuck in some drain. The water level in Loni areas was high after breach of the Alipur embankment,” the ACP said.

The police said Singh’s family hails from Saharanpur and his father is a daily wager.

The residents in Ram Park are still grappling with issues such as non-availability of clean drinking water, power outage, encounters with reptiles.

“Snakes are plentiful in our locality since the flood waters came in. Residents are on alert as water entered many houses and snakes could easily sneak in,” said Jitendra Gosain, a resident of Ram Park.

The officials of the district administration said that they will soon send a report about Singh’s death and await the autopsy report from Tronica City police.

“If the man died of drowning, then his family would be eligible for compensation. If any trace of alcohol is found in the body, they would not get any compensation. We have reports of several snake sightings in flooded localities but no incidents of any snake bite so far. The teams from the health department are also carrying antivenom serum with them just in case,” said Shalvi Agarwal, subdivisional magistrate of Loni.