‘Kamal’ Dead: On Delhi Man’s Death By Authority Negligence
Delhi biker died after falling into unbarricaded Jal Board pit in Janakpuri, exposing government negligence and failures in public safety.
A 25-year-old man, Kamal Dhyani, died in West Delhi’s Janakpuri after his motorcycle fell into a deep, unbarricaded pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board for sewer work. The pit was left in the middle of a road without proper warning signs, reflectors, lights or safety measures, and the result was a preventable tragedy that should trouble anyone who travels these streets.
According to police and eyewitness accounts, several people saw the bike fall and even a contractor reached the spot shortly after, yet no one called the police or arranged for help. The rider lay trapped through the night, and his family only found him the next morning after searching multiple police stations and combing the area with phone tracking. An FIR has now been registered under culpable homicide, a sub-contractor and a labourer have been arrested, and three Delhi Jal Board officials have been suspended. The government has ordered an inquiry, just as it has done in similar cases before.
But the focus on arrests and probes misses the larger point. This was not just negligence by a few workers. It was a failure of basic civic responsibility by the authorities tasked with public safety. Similar tragedies have happened recently in nearby cities, and repeated “investigations” have not led to lasting change. Instead of anticipating danger and protecting citizens, the system reacts only after a young life is lost.
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What should alarm us is not only that a pit was left open in a busy residential area, but that ordinary safety precautions were treated as optional. Warning signs, proper barricades and night supervision are not luxuries. They are minimum requirements, mandated precisely to prevent avoidable deaths. When public infrastructure projects violate basic safety norms, the blame lies with those in charge — not with bad luck or the people who fall victim to it. If the government cannot ensure safe roads and construction sites, it needs to answer why ordinary lives continue to be treated as collateral damage.
