Overhead water tank collapses in Surat, child among 3 injured

The government suspended executive engineer Rajnikant Chaudhary, and deputy executive engineer Jay Chaudhary, of the Roads and Buildings Department, Surat. Rajnikant Chaudhary is presently posted in Dangs district in the same department.

On Monday, to check its structural stability, the authorities filled the overhead water tank with nine lakh litres of water under the supervision of the officials concerned. The tank then burst and collapsed on the ground, creating a flood-like situation in the area and village. People rushed out of their houses upon seeing the high water flow and reached the spot after learning about the incident. The injured were identified as Kaliben Ochadiya (20), Anguriben Orad (37) and her daughter Anjali (3), who were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

After the incident, Mandvi taluka police and district panchayat officials also reached the spot. Videos of the water tank collapsing were widely shared on social media on Tuesday.

Built at a cost of Rs 21.04 crore, the tank was meant to supply water to people of 35 villages in the district, under the Gaypagla water scheme.

The contractors, Mehsana-based Jayanti Super Construction Pvt Ltd and Babubhai Patel, have been blacklisted and their payments were suspended. Notices were issued to the firms and Project Management consultants (PMC) – the Ahmedabad-based MaRS Planning and Engineering Services Pvt Ltd.

On Tuesday, engineers of GERI (Gujarat Engineering and Research Institute), and professors of the Civil Engineering department from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, also reached to the spot and collected the debris samples for lab testing to know the quality of materials used in the project and structural design of the water tank. The tank had taken three years to be built and was around 15 metres high.

Congress MLA of Mandvi Anand Chaudhary told mediapersons from the spot, “Poor quality of material had been used in the construction of the water tank. The government should carry out a detailed probe and strictly punish the guilty persons.”

Mandvi police station inspector C B Chauhan said, “Further investigation is underway.”