NOIDA: The waterlogged trench in Sector 150, where the 27-year-old software engineer drowned on Friday midnight, was initially allotted for a private mall project, but had turned into a pond as rainwater and wastewater discharged from nearby housing societies was allowed to accumulate in it for a decade.
The road Mehta took has a sharp right-angle turn that becomes hazardous in fog without warning signs or lights.
A stormwater management plan that was chalked out by the irrigation department in 2015 remained on the papers, despite multiple rounds of surveys and site inspections.
Documents accessed by TOI showed that the irrigation department in 2015 proposed a head regulator to divert runoff into the Hindon. In Feb 2016, it received Rs 13.5 lakh from Noida Authority to undertake a survey and prepare a design of the proposed regulator.
A letter, shot 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 Oct 9, 2023, showed that multiple communications were exchanged between 2015 and 2023. It also flagged the need to channelise rainwater from the developing sectors into the Hindon.
The letter stated that the irrigation department had drawn up designs for a regulator with mechanical gates at Sector 150 through a consultant, which was eventually vetted by IIT-Delhi. But following a joint site inspection on Oct 4, 2023, Noida Authority officials said stormwater from additional sectors had been linked to the existing drain, potentially increasing discharge and suggested that hydraulic or pneumatic gates be used instead of mechanical ones.
Subsequently, the irrigation department had sought an additional Rs 30 lakh for a fresh survey, revised designs and drawings, along with updated hydrological data such as maximum discharge, water depth, longitudinal slope and freeboard. A revised survey report remains pending.
Senior Noida Authority officials, including deputy general managers (civil and water), senior managers, assistant managers, and engineers from the irrigation department, were present during the inspection, the letter stated.
The impact of the delay was evident during the 2023 monsoon, when Sector 150 and nearby areas saw severe waterlogging. Basements of several housing societies by ATS, ACE, Godrej, Tata, Eldeco and Samridhi in nearby areas were flooded as rainwater could not be discharged into the Hindon in the absence of a regulator.
Without a controlled outlet, the water stagnated and risked backflow when the river swelled.
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Following the engineer's death, the irrigation department executive engineer BK Singh told TOI that work on the regulator would start in a week. Singh said the project, estimated to cost Rs 10.5 crore, would be financed by the Noida Authority. The department has received the selected contractor's financial bid, and the remaining formalities, including submission of official documents and a security deposit, were expected to be completed within a week.
He said that the project moved through multiple stages over the years, including proposal preparation, consent from the Authority, vetting by a state-level committee, and the tendering process. Final approval was granted by the chief engineer committee before bids were invited, Singh said. The department was now targeting completion of the head regulator before the onset of the monsoon season to minimise disruption.
Residents said that had the regulator been in place, water may not have accumulated on the low-lying commercial plot near the Hindon-Yamuna confluence.
"The regulator could have controlled flows and accommodated excess water within the plot," said Jitendra Meena, a resident of Tata Eureka Park.