New Delhi: In a shocking case reported from Greater Noida, a 3-year-old child allegedly died after slipping and falling into a water-filled pit. The incident happened on Saturday in Dalelgarh village. It led to considerable outrage amongst people amongst rising cases of open pits causing accidents in Delhi-NCR.
The incident comes close on the heels of 2 deaths reported from Delhi and Noida respectively. In these cases, a car driver Yuvraj Mehta fell into an open pit in Noida Sector 150 and another death of a bike rider in Delhi’s Rohini area.
How exactly did 3-year-old die?
According to a report in Network 18, the child, identified as Devansh had come to Dalelgarh village, accompanied by his father. He was here to visit his relatives. He was playing near an open pit, when he suddenly slipped and fell inside.
A feast was going on at the village at the time, and people had gathered near the temple for the same. It was near this temple that the pit was located and people saw the child, slipping and falling inside. Immediately locals raised an alarm and rushed to help.
The villagers did manage to pull Devansh out of the pit, but by that time he had already died.
Villagers said that the boy had arrived in the village just a few days back, with his father. They had come to visit relatives and used to live in Secunderabad in Bulandshahr district. The boy’s father has been identified as Anil.
Residents angry at apathy of authorities
The family members of the boy have been left in deep shock following the tragedy. The villagers are also mourning, but they are also angry at the apathy of the civic authorities.
Villagers claimed that the open pit, which was really dangerous, had remained open for a long time now. It had no fencing or barricading and neither was there any marking done by authorities, to warn people about it. They claimed that their repeated complaints to the Greater Noida Authority about the open pit, but the complaints fell on deaf ears. No action was taken by the authorities, claimed villagers.
They said that water logging after recent rains in the region had turned the pit into a death trap.
Responding to the criticism, AK Singh, General Manager of the Greater Noida Authority, said that the authorities had inspected the site, but no action could be taken as the water body was a private property. He said that the water body/lake belonged to 2 individuals, Gangaram and Dharamveer and was used for private purposes.