India, Jan. 20 -- A 27-year-old software engineer died in the early hours of Saturday after his car plunged into a deep, water-filled excavation pit on a vacant plot in Sector 150 of Greater Noida, triggering widespread outrage over civic lapses and a delayed rescue effort.

The victim, Yuvraj Mehta, was returning home from his office in Gurugram when his vehicle reportedly lost control in dense fog, smashed through a low boundary at a sharp 90-degree turn and fell into the pit.

Fighting all odds, Mehta managed to climb onto the roof of his partially submerged car and called his father for help. For nearly 90 minutes, he pleaded to be taken out of the ditch. By the time he was pulled out, he had died.

An FIR has since been registered ag...