After techie’s drowning in Noida, Gurgaon checks rescue readiness & finds gaps

Gurgaon: The district administration conducted a disaster response drill on Wednesday night in the wake of a techie's drowning in Noida.At 10.35pm, the control room received a simulated alert that a 12-year-old boy drowned at a Sector 52 pond. Within 15 minutes, SDRF, Gurgaon police, fire department and civil defence teams reached the spot despite darkness and challenging conditions. While the child was "rescued", the drill — under the supervision of DCP (east) Gaurav Rajpurohit — continued till 1.20am. After a review meeting of the drill flagged "coordination gaps" and stressed the need for better training, officials announced that regular drills will be conducted to strengthen preparedness. "The shortcomings were discussed. Our teams need more training," an officer said. Civil defence chief patrol Mohit Sharma said drills for different disasters in future will test not only team coordination but also personnel skills, "ensuring no negligence during disasters".Meanwhile, in an incident, a truck driver and a cleaner had a narrow escape when their vehicle fell into an under-construction drain. Around 5.30am on Thursday near Sector 84, due to fog, the truck carrying gravel from Rajasthan fell into the drain while going from Sector 90 Elan Mall towards Dadi Satti Chowk. The front portion of the truck fell into the pit which was several feet deep. Local people said the accident happened because GMDA dug the drain in the middle of the road without any safety arrangements at the spot. "Neither barricading was done around the drain nor were reflector tapes or warning signs placed, due to which the driver could not gauge the pit and the truck fell straight into the drain," said Manish Sharma, a resident of Sector 84. After this accident, a long traffic jam occurred on the main road. Upon receiving information, police reached the spot and diverted the traffic through alternative routes.Traffic inspector Manoj said discussions are being held with GMDA officials regarding safety arrangements near the drain to prevent any future accidents. According to the officials, many deep pits have been dug in areas around Dwarka Expressway, near the pond in Basai village, from Hero Honda Chowk towards Umang Bhardwaj Chowk, for various construction-related work. "The authorities are preparing a list of such sites to take appropriate steps," said the officer.