Daijiworld Media Network - Greater Noida
Greater Noida, Feb 16: A three-year-old boy drowned in a village pond in Greater Noida, triggering protests by villagers who alleged civic apathy and negligence by authorities.
The child, identified as Devansh, had accompanied his parents, Anil and Anjali, to a feast at a temple near their home in a village under the Greater Noida area. When the parents realised their son was missing, family members and villagers began searching for him. Some suspected that he might have wandered towards a nearby pond.
Police were alerted and reached the spot along with divers. After hours of search, the child’s body was recovered from the pond. It is suspected that Devansh slipped into the water while playing.
Villagers alleged that the pond has neither been cleaned nor fenced for decades, posing a constant danger to residents. Station House Officer Munendra Singh of Dankaur Police Station said the incident is being treated as an accident, but the possibility of administrative negligence is also being examined.
The tragedy comes weeks after two separate fatal incidents in Delhi-NCR that had raised serious concerns over safety at public works sites.
On February 6, 25-year-old Kamal Dhyani, an employee of a private bank, died after falling into a four-metre-deep pit dug for a Delhi Jal Board project in Janakpuri, West Delhi. His body and motorcycle were recovered the following morning. Eyewitnesses and residents claimed that proper safety measures such as barricades, nets and adequate lighting were missing at the site. Investigators later found that a sub-contractor had allegedly been alerted about the accident hours before police were informed but failed to act.
Earlier, on the intervening night of January 16 and 17, 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta drowned after his car fell into a waterlogged pit near a construction site in Sector 150, Noida. He reportedly remained trapped for over two hours in dense winter fog and freezing temperatures while awaiting help, as his father stood by helplessly. The family alleged that officials arrived without divers, delaying rescue efforts.
The latest incident has intensified public anger over alleged lapses in civic safety and infrastructure management in the region.