Noida: A 45-year-old hospital manager from Faridabad died after his motorcycle plunged into a 7-foot pit on an under-construction road proposed to link Faridabad to Noida International Airport off the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Greater Noida’s Dankaur area late Sunday night. He lay at the bottom of the pit for hours before passersby found him around 8 am the next morning.The victim, Atul Kumar Joshi, a resident of New Industrial Township-1 in Faridabad, was travelling towards Greater Noida via the Manjhawali bridge when the accident occurred. With no signage, reflective markings or adequate lighting to warn commuters, police said Joshi may have failed to realise the road ended past the bridge and dropped into a pit.Police said Joshi first hit a mound of excavated soil placed at the edge of the unfinished stretch before his bike toppled into the pit. Despite wearing a helmet, he suffered serious injuries, including a deep wound to his nose, believed to have been caused by the visor on impact.Local residents noticed a man lying in the pit around 8am on Monday and alerted police. A team from Dankaur police station pulled Joshi out and shifted him to a nearby hospital, but by then he had lost excessive blood. He was later referred to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida, where doctors declared him dead. An autopsy confirmed head injuries, and the body was handed over to the family.Police said Joshi had left home on Sunday around noon, telling his family he was going swimming in Tigaon in Haryana. Officers believe that while returning late that night, he mistakenly took a wrong turn onto the incomplete road instead of heading towards Faridabad.As of Tuesday, no formal complaint had been filed by the family. Dankaur station house officer Manoj Kumar said action would be taken if a complaint was received, and that police were examining all aspects of the incident.The accident has reignited concerns about safety at incomplete infrastructure projects in the region. Faridabad’s public works department (PWD) built a 630-metre, four-lane bridge in Dec 2022 that will further connect the Yamuna Expressway, approximately four kilometres away. Currently, the approach road on the Greater Noida side remains incomplete due to a land acquisition dispute.Residents claimed the Manjhawali-Greater Noida link road was inaugurated nearly six months ago but remains unfinished. Motorists continue to use the track through agricultural fields to cut travel time.A local residen said the route is uneven and difficult to navigate, yet draws heavy daily traffic. “Vehicles frequently get stuck on the rough surface, but authorities have neither restricted access nor installed adequate warning signs,” he said.PWD (GB Nagar) executive engineer Kanchan Singh said the bridge was developed by Haryana govt. “There are some issues with the land for the approach road on our side. We aim to acquire the land and develop the approach road in a year,” she said.
