India, Feb. 7 -- The death of 25-year-old Kamal Dhyani, who plunged into an open sewer excavation pit in West Delhi's Janakpuri, has exposed a fatal disconnect between official safety mandates and their implementation on the ground, revealing how repeated warnings issued after a similar recent tragedy in Noida were systematically ignored.

Dhyani's body was discovered around 8am on Friday by morning walkers. Eyewitnesses described a chaotic but tragic scene where multiple people jumped into the nearly 20-foot-deep pit to remove the motorcycle that lay on top of the victim.

"I saw a crowd gathering when I reached the spot. I could see that the victim was lying inside the pit with his motorcycle on top of him. People then jumped inside and...