Noida techie death: A 2015 proposal from UP Irrigation department could have saved 27-year-old Yuvraj Mehta's life but it remained trapped in files

Years before the 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta drowned after his SUV fell into a water-filled pit in Greater Noida's Sector 150, a letter from the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department to the Noida Authority had raised concerns over the accumulated rain and drain water. The proposal was made in 2015. The UP Irrigation department in 2023 flagged the need to construct head constructors to clear the drain water. But the work was never taken up, reports news agency PTI. Yuvraj Mehta was returning home from work around 12.30 am on January 16-17 when his Grand Vitara crashed through a damaged boundary wall and plunged into a waterlogged pit amid dense fog. He was trapped in the deep, icy water for nearly two hours and managed to climb on to the roof of the sinking SUV, flashed his mobile torch, dialled his father, cried for help but couldn't be saved.

The death of Yuvraj Mehta has triggered outrage among the local residents who carried out the protests. The locals said the tragedy could have been averted if the proposed head regulators been constructed, as the accumulated water would have been flushed out instead of stagnating at the site. Locals, including the family of software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, alleged negligence by local authority and real estate developers which they claimed led to the death and held protest marches.

Following the outrage over the techie's death, the Uttar Pradesh government removed IAS officer Lokesh M from the post of Noida Authority as its chief executive officer and put him on a waitlist. The Yogi Adityanath government has also ordered an SIT probe by high ranking officials into the matter and Noida Police has filed an FIR against two real estate developers.

Noida techie's death could have been prevented

Days after Yuvraj Mehta's car fell into a deep, waterlogged pit dug for the basement of an under-construction commercial complex near drain in Sector 150, it has come to the fore that the UP Irrigation Department made an official communication to the Noida Authority in 2023. The original communication was made in 2015, reports TOI's Aditya Dev.

ALSO READ: 'Yuvraj kept pleading for help': Noida techie clung on to car's roof till last breath, dialled his father, shared his location but still couldn't be saved

What do the documents show?

According to officials, the partially constructed basement had accumulated water not only due to rainfall but also from continuous discharge from drains linked to nearby residential societies. With restrictions on releasing excess water into the Hindon river, the water level at the site kept rising over time.

Documents accessed by TOI reveal that in the irrigation department in 2015 proposed constructing a head regulator to divert runoff into the Hindon river. In February 2016, the Noida Authority sanctioned ₹13.5 lakh for a survey and preparation of designs for the regulator. A letter sent by the executive engineer of the irrigation department’s construction division in Ghaziabad to the senior manager of Noida Authority’s work circle 10 on October 9, 2023, shows that multiple communications were exchanged between 2015 and 2023, and repeatedly flagged the need to channel rainwater from developing sectors into the Hindon.

The letter said the irrigation department, through a consultant, had prepared designs for a regulator with mechanical gates at Sector 150, which were later vetted by IIT-Delhi. However, after a joint site inspection on October 4, 2023, Noida Authority officials pointed out that stormwater from additional sectors had since been connected to the existing drain, potentially increasing discharge. They suggested replacing mechanical gates with hydraulic or pneumatic ones. Following this, the irrigation department sought an additional ₹30 lakh for a fresh survey, revised designs and drawings, and updated hydrological data, including maximum discharge, water depth, longitudinal slope and freeboard. The revised survey report is still awaited.

ALSO READ: Noida techie death: 90 minutes of cries, fog and a deadly pit, how Yuvraj Mehta lost life as a helpless father stood a few feet away

Senior Noida Authority officials—among them deputy general managers (civil and water), senior and assistant managers—and engineers from the irrigation department were present during the inspection, the letter noted. The consequences of the delay became evident during the 2023 monsoon, when Sector 150 and adjoining areas witnessed severe waterlogging. Basements of several housing societies developed by ATS, ACE, Godrej, Tata, Eldeco and Samridhi were flooded as rainwater could not be discharged into the Hindon in the absence of a regulator. With no controlled outlet, water stagnated and there was a risk of backflow when the river swelled.

A letter from 2023 could have saved Noida techie

The officials had formally informed the authority about the need to install head regulators, which regulates water flow and prevents excess silt in a drain or canal. Had the head regulators been installed, it would have cleared the excess rainwater and drainage discharge from nearby residential areas by channelising it into the Hindon river, according to a PTI report.

The Irrigation Department letter also mentioned that budgetary provisions had been made for the proposed work, but the letter was lost in the files, and the project never materialised. The alleged negligence from the authorities allowed the water to accumulate in the pit till disaster struck when the abandoned pit swallowed Yuvraj Mehta's life.

The Irrigation Department letter also mentioned that budgetary provisions had been made for the proposed work but the project was never taken up. The waterlogged trench in Sector 150 was originally earmarked for a private mall project but gradually turned into a pond after rainwater and wastewater from nearby housing societies were allowed to accumulate there for nearly a decade. A stormwater management plan prepared by the irrigation department in 2015 never moved beyond paper, despite multiple surveys and site inspections.

The Noida Authority has installed barricades at the site following protests by locals on Saturday and Sunday. Residents of Sector 150 have alleged that the absence of proper drainage infrastructure and safety measures around the construction site directly contributed to the accident. They claimed repeated complaints were made to authorities about waterlogging and a lack of barricading near the drain.

ALSO READ: Noida techie's death: UP CM Adityanath orders SIT probe

FIR registered

The Police have registered an FIR against real estate developers M/s Wishtown Planners and Lotus Greens following a complaint by the techie's father. Reacting to the FIR, Lotus Greens said it has no role in the case as the plot was transferred in 2019-20 to Grihapravesh Group with the approval of Noida Authority.

"... Lotus Greens has shown extreme concern about the incident and being a responsible company, we fully condemn this incident. But unfortunately, Lotus Greens has no role to play because the said plot was transferred in 2019-20 to Mr Abhay Kumar and others of Grihapravesh Group with the approval of Noida Authority and they are the current directors of the entity holding the plot.

"They have started the basement work in the said plot, but subsequently, the work was stalled. They also started litigation with their lenders. We understand the family’s pain and we are standing with them in getting justice," a spokesperson of the real estate developer said.

(With PTI and TOI inputs)