Search for Drowned Youth in Yamuna Enters Second Day as Family's Patience Wears Thin
The desperate search for 20-year-old Vikas, who drowned in the Yamuna river during Saraswati Puja celebrations, entered its second day on Monday, with family members growing increasingly frustrated as rescue teams faced numerous challenges in the polluted waters.
Tragic Incident During Religious Celebration
Vikas, a graduation student, along with three friends visited the Kondli Nala in East Delhi on Saturday to immerse an idol after Saraswati Puja celebrations concluded. The location was approximately 3 kilometers from his home. According to police reports, only three of the four young men returned from the water immersion ritual.
"Four of them went in and only three returned. It took us some time to realize that Vikas never came out," recalled Rahul, Vikas's 32-year-old brother, who has been maintaining a vigil at the riverbank near their Noida home in Harola since the incident occurred.
Massive Search Operation Deployed
Multiple agencies joined forces in the search operation, including:
- Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Response Force (SDRF)
- National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)
- Divers from the Delhi Boating Club
The NDRF deployed three boats equipped with long iron rakes to comb through the waters, while the SDRF contributed one boat. The Delhi Boating Club divers operated four additional boats of their own.
Family's Growing Frustration
As evening fell on Monday, relatives of the missing youth began expressing their impatience with the slow progress. "Use a net... do anything! How long will you make us wait?" demanded one family member as divers continued their work.
Raghubir Singh, leading a team of five divers, responded to the pressure by explaining the limitations they faced. "I'm doing my best here, please understand. The river is too full of trash to use a net. We're working with limited resources," he stated before turning his boat around and leaving the increasingly agitated relatives.
Challenging Search Conditions
The search operation faced multiple obstacles that significantly hampered progress:
- Extremely polluted water: The Yamuna's waters are filled with trash and debris, making visibility nearly impossible for divers.
- Cold water temperatures: The frigid water conditions prevent bodies from rising to the surface quickly, as cold temperatures inhibit the natural bloating process.
- Strong currents and high water levels: These conditions make navigation difficult and can move submerged objects considerable distances.
- Jurisdictional complications: The incident occurred in Kondli, which falls on the border between Delhi and Noida, causing initial confusion about which authorities should respond.
Operational Delays and Challenges
According to divers involved in the operation, several factors contributed to the difficulties in locating Vikas's body:
"The call first went to the UP Police since Kondli falls between the Delhi and Noida border," explained Raghubir Singh. "The NDRF and SDRF did reach the place on time, but they used boats to look for the body. Boats move a lot of water when they move, it would have moved the body further downstream."
Singh further revealed that while the first emergency call reached the NDRF at 8 PM on Saturday, divers were only notified by 9:30 PM. "In that one-and-half hours, the boats had circled the area several times. In cases like these, it's difficult to estimate where the body has moved," he added.
Search Operations Continue Despite Setbacks
Divers worked late into Saturday night before pausing around midnight due to poor visibility. Operations resumed at 6 AM the following day, continuing through Monday with no success.
Rahul, while trying to maintain composure, expressed understanding of the divers' challenges. "I don't blame them for not being able to hold their breath under the filthy water. Locals have told me that there is a deep pit under the water, on the other side of the Nala. If the water was clean, the divers would have been able to spot him," he said.
Harish Kumar, the divers' in-charge, noted that the distance between the Kondli Nala and the mouth of the Yamuna is not more than 1 kilometer, but the combination of pollution, currents, and operational challenges has made the search particularly difficult.
One diver from the Delhi Boating Club explained the grim reality facing the search teams: "Since the water is cold, the temperature will not let the body come to the river bed, if he has died. At this point, we believe that the body can only be retrieved once it bloats and rises to the surface."
As the search enters its third day, family members continue their vigil, hoping for closure while rescue teams persist in their challenging mission to recover Vikas from the Yamuna's treacherous waters.
