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Broken barricades, dark road: How a routine sewer dig killed young man in Delhi's Janakpuri
The pit, which cut across two lanes on one side of the carriageway, was located around 50 metres beyond the nearest barricading meant to close the road.
New Delhi : The death of 25-year-old Kamal Dhyani, who was killed late Wednesday night after his motorcycle plunged into an open excavation pit in west Delhi’s Janakpuri, has laid bare a catastrophic chain of safety lapses, poor planning, and negligent oversight that transformed a routine sewer project into a lethal trap.
The incident occurred on Joginder Singh Marg, a stretch under construction for over three months as part of a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) sewer line project. While the project was long-standing, the particular 15-20-foot-deep pit that claimed Dhyani’s life was dug in the past two days.
The pit, which cut across two lanes on one side of the carriageway, was located around 50 metres beyond the nearest barricading meant to close the road. While the broader stretch had been partially cordoned off, residents alleged that the immediate vicinity of the pit – where the danger was most acute – was left dangerously exposed.
As news teams reached the site on Friday morning, two metal barricades were seen on one side of the road, but there was a wide gap of nearly five feet between them – enough for two-wheelers to pass through. Officials had covered this gap with a tarp by late morning, residents said. The edges of the pit were, however, completely open, with no reflective warning signs, caution tape, or adequate lighting.
Loose soil and debris were piled close to the rim of the excavation, blurring the boundary between the road surface and the pit. In low visibility conditions, residents said, the danger would have been almost impossible to detect in time. Streetlights along the stretch are erratic, with some functioning and others not, further worsening visibility, residents said.
Residents believe these conditions created a deadly trap. Once a rider squeezed through the gap in the barricades, they would encounter an apparently open stretch of road with enough space to pick up speed – before suddenly coming upon the unmarked pit.
“One side of the road had barricades but the other side had none. Two-wheelers would often pass through from the open side. Some streetlights work, some don’t. The pit is fresh, barely a day or two old. It was an accident waiting to happen,” said R M Khosla, an 80-year-old resident of Green Valley Apartments, barely 50 metres from the site.
A preliminary site inspection revealed the pit to be rectangular, measuring approximately six metres in length, four metres in width and more than four metres in depth. The sides were near-vertical, with underground cables or pipes visible along one wall. A wooden ladder was seen lying inside the pit.
Facing mounting criticism, Water minister Parvesh Verma, who holds charge of DJB, said work had been underway in the area for around three months and barricades had been placed at intervals on both sides of the road. Taking cognisance of the matter, Verma ordered an inquiry by a high-level committee comprising director-level officers of the DJB.
“The report will be available within 24 hours. Public safety is paramount. Any failure in adhering to established safety standards will be dealt with strictly, both administratively and contractually,” he said.
Hours later, he announced the suspension of three DJB officials – the executive engineer, assistant engineer and junior engineer of the project division – citing prima facie supervisory negligence.
In an official statement in the evening, the utility admitted that existing measures were insufficient. “As per the preliminary report of the two-member inquiry committee constituted by the DJB, the service road where underground sewer line laying work had commenced was barricaded and closed for public safety. However, additional safety measures should have been adopted,” the statement said.
The private contractor executing the sewer work has also been placed under investigation. Officials said strict action, including blacklisting, would be initiated if violations of safety norms are established.
Delhi cabinet minister and Janakpuri MLA Ashish Sood, who visited the site on Thursday, said he spent nearly two hours inspecting the stretch. “It is an unfortunate incident. We stand with the family of the deceased. An inquiry has been ordered and the guilty will not be spared,” he said.
The Delhi government has announced that it will conduct a comprehensive safety audit of all ongoing sewer, road and flood control projects across the Capital, focusing on barricading norms, warning signage and lighting requirements.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police have registered a first information report (FIR) and begun an independent investigation to determine criminal negligence and fix responsibility. DJB has also constituted a separate high-level committee to examine procedural failures and recommend corrective measures.
