The Incident
Yuvraj Mehta, driving a Grand Vitara, drove straight into an open pit filled with water. He begged for help for almost two hours. The police, state disaster rescue teams, everyone arrived soon after but no one attempted rescue. They said the water was too cold, they didn't have the right equipment and some said they couldn't swim. Retired police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) officers expressed shock. A Dalit gig worker, Moninder Jatav, was the only one who jumped in and tried, but he couldn't save the boy, it was too late.
This wasn't the first incident at this spot. A truck had fallen in two weeks earlier. Then also, the person to jump in, was Moninder Jatav, who was passing by. On that day since he was right there, he was able to rescue the driver. The following day, Noida Authority asked him to pay them money.
In 2022, the Irrigation Department had written a letter to Noida Authority, it was ignored. Four months before this incident, the residents of gated societies nearby had written to their Member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mahesh Sharma. This is his response after Yuvraj Mehta's death: “When people write to us with complaints, we forward them to the authorities concerned. In this case also, the people of the locality wrote to me and I forwarded that letter to the Noida authorities with a covering letter asking them to take the action deemed fit, and to inform me.”
Indeed. What can a Member of Parliament do besides forwarding letters?