Noida techie stood atop car for 90 minutes before it sank: Why the rescue failed

Yuvraj Mehta's unsuccessful rescue was attributed to a series of factors - dense fog, darkness, and ropes, cranes and ladders falling short.

A techie's pleas for help went into vain in Greater Noida after his car plunged into a waterlogged ditch over the weekend, leading to his death. Yuvraj Mehta, the 27-year-old engineer, tried his best to save himself and yell out pleas for help but eventually drowned after rescue ops failed.

Yuvraj Mehta, a 27-year-old engineer, died in Greater Noida after his car plunged into a pit. (HT photo)

The unsuccessful rescue was later attributed to a series of factors - dense fog, darkness, and ropes, cranes and ladders falling short. Even though the software engineer fought his way up to the top of his car after it landed in a 50 feet deep, rainwater-filled pit, he couldn't be rescued.

A series of events and why the rescue attempts failed, according to police:

• Yuvraj Mehta, who worked as a software engineer in Gurugram, was returning home to Tata Eureka Park in Noida Sector 150 in his Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara.
• Trying to navigate a turn in the dense fog, Mehta accidentally crashed his car, jumped a drain and landed in a pit that was about 50-feet deep and was filled with water. According to police, there were no barricades or reflective warnings outside the pit.
• Mehta somehow managed to crawl to the roof of his car and dialled his father for help. “My son himself called me while he was trapped. He said, ‘papa, I am stuck, the car has fallen into the drain,'" his father Raj Kumar Mehta earlier told HT.
• While teams from the police, fire department, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) did reach the spot, their arrival was delayed due to the dense winter fog.
• According to a police officer, ropes were thrown in to save Yuvraj Mehta but they fell short. Besides, a crane and ladders deployed by firefighters also could not bridge the gap, the officer said.
• Mehta stood on top of his car for about 90 minutes before it sank completely into the water-filled pit. His body was later recovered using a boat.

Reasons behind Yuvraj Mehta's rescue failure

Real estate firms deny wrongdoing

Both the firms shrugged off responsibility over the incident. While Lotus Greens condemned the death, it also said that the plot had been transferred to another party with the Noida Authority’s approval in 2019-20.

Meanwhile, Abhay Kumar, promoter of MZ Wiztown Planners, alleged that the land was already excavated when it was handed over to him and that the firm was never granted permission to commence work.

Apart from action against the firms, show cause notices to staff responsible for traffic-related work in the Sector 150 area have also been issued, and a junior engineer has been sacked by the Noida Authority.

Why Yuvraj Mehta's car crashed

Detailing the circumstances of the car crash, Assistant commissioner of police Hemant Upadhyay said that dense fog may have led Yuvraj Mehta to misjudge a turn. “Prima facie, it is suspected that Mehta was driving at a high speed,” said ACP Upadhyay.

Some Noida Authority officials, speaking anonymously, also said that overspeeding and near-zero visibility could've been contributors to the crash.

While streetlights were present in the area where the accident took place, fog severely reduced visibility, HT earlier reported.

(With inputs from HT correspondent).