The tragic death of engineer Yuvraj Mehta in Greater Noida has exposed unsafe urban development and bureaucratic negligence. He lost his life after falling into a pit at the construction site due to lack of help from government agencies. The incident reflects poor infrastructure, open sewers and administrative neglect in cities, which continue to pose a threat to citizens. The Chief Minister has ordered an inquiry, but it emphasizes the need for systemic reforms.
Sanjay Gupta. Recently, in a heart-wrenching incident, the death of a young engineer Yuvraj Mehta in Greater Noida attracted the attention of the entire country. Yuvraj lost his life when his car took a 90 degree turn due to fog and fell into a pit dug to build a basement, which was filled with water. He called his father for help and also sought help from people passing by. After some time, all the government staff reached there, but due to lack of resources and hesitation to enter the cold water, did not move forward to save him.
Ultimately this young man died in front of his father and the people who came to save him. Neither the SDRF, nor the police, nor the fire brigade did any work to save him. Seeing the hesitation of all these departments, a delivery boy entered the cold water to save Yuvraj, but by then it was too late. There is a lot of anger over this incident because those who should have made every possible effort to save the young man, remained silent spectators. There is nothing worse than that employees of various departments reach the spot but do nothing to save the person in trouble.
Yuvraj Mehta's death has shaken the Uttar Pradesh government. The Chief Minister has ordered an investigation into this incident. Whatever may be the outcome of this investigation, the life that was lost will not come back. After this incident, everyone's attention has been drawn towards the circumstances that led to Yuvraj's death, but there is no hope of any fundamental improvement in them. The way Indian cities are developing and the way construction works are carried out there by the government and private sectors, they are continuously giving rise to accidents.
Our average bureaucracy is dominated by a culture of improvisation. She has become an expert in ignoring civil facilities and public safety measures and covering up the accidents that occur due to them. Due to this, civil inconvenience keeps increasing and people also keep becoming victims of accidents. In Greater Noida, drains are open in many areas and sewer water keeps overflowing, even though it is known as a developed city of the state. Even in this city, there is no one to see why the roadsides remain filled with water, why the sewer lines keep overflowing and why the roads remain broken? Keep in mind that mosquitoes also breed in such places and dirt also accumulates, which causes diseases.
Population pressure is continuously increasing in small and big cities of the country. Government departments keep authorizing land and giving it to builders. Since unauthorized and unplanned colonies keep developing around such lands, haphazard development also keeps happening. In most of such colonies, initially there are neither accessible roads, nor street lights, nor proper sewage system nor proper electricity connections. When people come to live in ready-made buildings and multi-storey buildings in these colonies, they face many problems, but neither the builders nor the government departments come forward to solve them.
Since the demand for houses and flats is high, people are forced to live in underdeveloped areas. The road on which Yuvraj Mehta died in Greater Noida was not an easy road. The 90 degree angle made on it made it a dangerous black spot i.e. an accident prone area. A complaint was also made to the administration regarding this, but no one did anything. This type of administrative neglect is seen in all cities. Due to this, people sometimes lose their lives by falling into open sewers or by getting injured on unsafe roads. Every accident occurs due to government inaction or chaos. Another problem is that unplanned development happens in a poor manner.
Due to this also, accidents keep happening, but no one takes care of them. Sometimes a newly constructed building collapses and sometimes there are potholes in the newly constructed road. It is often seen in cities that wherever construction is taking place, it is usually a risky area. The roads there are not good and there are deep potholes on their sides. Similarly, there is no system of drainage. There are no signs to warn people about such risky places. Many times such dangerous places are shrouded in darkness. No one knows when the inaction of the bureaucracy will end and for how long will people's lives continue to be played with?
On one hand, the Modi government is striving to make India a three trillion dollar economy and a developed country by 2047, and on the other hand, our cities are falling into disrepair, lack of civic amenities and public safety measures are becoming inadequate. It is surprising that urban development has not improved with the increase in population in cities. This situation will only become an obstacle to the dream of developed India. Development should not only be economic, but it should also happen in a safe and easy manner. Be it bureaucracy, politicians or judiciary, everyone will have to discharge their responsibilities seriously.
People will also have to be shown seriousness because they also ignore the rules. Being a developing country does not mean that the government machinery and the general public do not perform their responsibilities properly. Since government departments are not alert about following the rules and regulations, people also violate them. In the Greater Noida incident, the negligence of the government staff along with the builders is clear. The builders have been arrested and some officials have been suspended, but it is doubtful that this will improve the situation. There are also less chances that officials of other cities will learn a lesson from this incident.
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