Auto driver drowns in waterlogged ditch in NE Delhi: Why were there not enough barriers, ask kin

While PWD barriers had been installed on the corners, the middle portion of the road was clear and vehicles used it as a means of passage. However, incessant rain in the city over the past week led water to collect at the spot.

Unaware of the same, Sharma ended up driving his auto halfway into the ditch. He got out to push his vehicle but his leg, already weak due to an illness, caved into the wet soil and he fell into the ditch — deep enough to accommodate an entire auto, according to police.

Police said they had received a PCR call regarding the incident around 3.30 pm. DCP (Northeast) Joy Tirkey had said Friday, “The ditch was dug up near the under-construction-flyover and had filled up with rainwater.” He had added that prima facie it seemed the victim had driven into the ditch without realising it was deep and accidentally drowned.

The postmortem was carried out at GTB Hospital and based on that, a case under IPC Section 304A (causing death by negligence) was lodged.

Senior police officers said during inquiry, they will seek a response from the PWD as to why adequate barriers were not installed around the under-construction spot.

A senior official from the PWD’s flyover division told The Indian Express that the construction site was completely barricaded. “We even have pictures taken in the morning… There is a service road but we don’t know why the auto driver entered the site and took the wrong route. There was no one present due to the rain. We are preparing an incident report and will send it to the secretary.”

Singh is survived by wife, Meena (47), and four children. Meena works as a ragpicker. Their 22-year-old daughter, Kashish, got married recently. The couple’s eldest son, Dhruv (20), works at a shop nearby, while the other two, Varun (15) and Dharan (13), study at a government school.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Saturday, Singh’s elder brother, Sriram Sharma (55), said: “He was the youngest amongst us three brothers… he used to go out with his auto early in the morning and return for a brief period in the afternoon to have lunch and take rest, before heading out again and driving till late at night.”

Added Sriram, a DTC bus driver, “He was working hard and earning enough money so his children don’t become auto rickshaw drivers like him and can get better jobs… No one helped him when he fell into the ditch… Why were there no barriers at the spot? Someone has to be held responsible.”

He said his brother was suffering from Tuberculosis and was taking medicines, which triggered an allergic reaction and weakened his legs. “He could not walk properly but he still tried to get his auto out of the muck… he could have been saved,” said Sriram.

Sharma’s son Varun added, “My father left home around 10 am on Friday. He had just dropped a passenger at Mandoli and had called me saying he was coming back to rest… he earned somewhere around Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 on good days and a majority of it went into filling gas, paying rent for the auto and on its maintenance.”

A street vendor at the spot said, “The barriers on the middle of the service road had not been installed or were removed, so all vehicles were freely using it… it had rained heavily recently and water started accumulating in the ditch.”