Rust and ruin: Neglected basketball pole fatally crushes basketball prodigy

On a crisp morning in Rohtak’s Lakhan Majra neighborhood, 16-year-old Hardik Rathi, a national-level basketball talent, stepped onto the court with familiar determination. His dreams — of leading India’s youth basketball squad, of winning medals, of making his family proud — felt within reach. Hardik had started playing at 11 and trained relentlessly, sometimes twice a day, according to his family.

But that morning, as he leapt to grab the rim, tragedy struck. The iron pole holding the hoop — long rusted and repeatedly flagged as unsafe — suddenly gave way and collapsed onto him, pinning its full weight against his chest. Witnesses rushed to lift the structure. Rescue efforts began immediately. Hardik was rushed to hospital. But the damage, internal injuries from the collapsing board, proved fatal. By afternoon, the young dreamer was dead.

Shock rippled through his family. “Hardik was a decent, focused boy. His dream was to lead India in basketball,” his cousin said, struggling to hold back tears. The loss, they say, is beyond compensation.

What makes the tragedy more painful is that this was no freak accident. According to NDTV, the same rusted pole had been reported as dangerous 'at least 10 times,' according to relatives. Warnings had reached authorities. But no repair, no replacement — no action.

The court had been built in 2009, with funds possibly from a former MP’s development allocation. According to family members, payments had been made — reportedly ₹18 lakh — for maintenance. Yet the pole remained decrepit. Opposition leaders have accused the present state government of 'criminal negligence,' alleging funding was stalled or mismanaged because of political differences.

Shortly after the tragedy, authorities reacted. The local sports officer was suspended, and the makeshift nursery-cum–basketball court where Hardik trained has been shut down — a symbolic gesture that has done little to heal a grieving family or restore lost confidence.

Hardik’s death isn’t an isolated incident. Just a day earlier, a 15-year-old boy named Aman from nearby Bahadurgarh district also died when a basketball pole collapsed during practice. The back-to-back tragedies have shaken Haryana’s sporting community.

The similarity of the incidents — collapsing poles, unsafe infrastructure, young lives lost — echoes like a tragic refrain. For parents, coaches and young athletes, it has become a grim reminder: talent and passion can only be safeguarded if basic safety comes first.

Hardik’s family, peers and political leaders are now demanding answers. Who allowed decrepit equipment to remain in use? Who ignored repeated warnings from coaches and caretakers? And — unbearably — who will ensure that no other promising life is mortgaged against a rusted pole?

Some immediate moves have been made: the sports department has reportedly ordered a review of all public-sports infrastructure and suspended local officials responsible for oversight. Yet many believe these steps — however necessary — are too little, too late.

For now, Hardik’s mother’s dreams of him dribbling down the court to national glory lie buried beneath heavy metal and broken promises. And across Haryana — and perhaps beyond — parents and young athletes are left asking: how safe is the ground we play on?