NOIDA, Jan. 22 -- Residents of Sector 150 alleged on Wednesday that they had written to the Noida Authorityin mid-January and earlier as well, flagging the dangerously waterlogged and unsecured plot where a 27-year-old software engineer drowned last Saturday, warning that a lack of basic safety measures had made the spot a death trap.

The allegations reveal that the tragedy which claimed the life of Yuvraj Mehta was potentially preventable, underscoring a pattern of civic neglect in an area that has been dubbed as one of Noida's most premium residential zones.

According to residents, their warnings came after a truck on January 2 breached a low periphery wall at the same location, nearly plunging into the same water-filled excavation. I...