Greater Noida: A three-year-old boy drowned after slipping into a water-filled pit along the Dalelgarh village road in the Dankaur area of Greater Noida on Saturday, police said on Monday.
The child, a native of Sikandrabad in Uttar Pradesh, had been visiting his maternal grandfather’s home in Dalelgarh village. The family had gathered for a feast at a local temple to mark the completion of a 45-day religious meditation observed by his grandfather.
Station House Officer of Dankaur, Munendra Singh, said the incident took place around 11 am when the boy was playing near the temple premises. “While playing, he went close to a water-filled pit along the village road and accidentally slipped into it,” the officer said.
When the family realised the child was missing, they began searching and later found him in the pit. He was pulled out and rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. The boy is survived by his parents and an elder sister.
Police said the body was handed over to the family after post-mortem and further investigation is under way.
Residents alleged that repeated complaints about water accumulation had been made to the Greater Noida Authority. In a letter dated February 4, the Dalelgarh Vikas Samiti warned that the waterlogged stretch, lacking barricading or warning signs, posed a serious risk due to its unknown depth.
Following the incident, senior officials visited the site and assured residents of corrective measures. A K Singh, General Manager (Project), GNIDA, said the land was registered in the name of a local farmer and was not a government pond, adding that the authority shared the family’s grief over the loss.