Rourkela: The residents of the Civil Township in Rourkela of Sundargarh district woke up to the collapse of a 70-feet high water tank built by the Public Health Department (PHD) department Monday morning.
While no casualty was reported as no one was present near the water tank during the mishap, the WESCO office located nearby was damaged, reports said. Meanwhile, a few motorbikes and vehicles parked under the tank have been crushed.
The 50,000 litres capacity water tank constructed some 30 years back was in unsafe condition, locals alleged, adding, water was still being supplied through it to several localities in the Civil Township area.
Local residents blamed the engineers and senior officials of the Public Health Division (PHD) for their negligence. They accused them of not taking steps and working haphazardly without snapping the water supply to the tank despite the structure being in a hazardous condition.
“What if some people were near the water tank? It would have cost their lives,” an irate local complained.
Sources said, officials of the PHD department were well aware about the unsafe condition of the structure as a new overhead water tank was being constructed close to the collapsed structure.
“The collapse of the water tank is the outcome of sheer negligence on part of the PHD department engineers as they did not replace the old water tank, knowning that it would collapse anytime soon. They callously took no measures to create awareness in the area that also houses a hospital, market and government offices,” a local said.
There are over 30 water tanks in dangerous condition in the Steel City. All of this water tanks are very old and were built around 50 years ago.
Locals demanded such old public utilities to be immediately discarded for the safety of people living close to such structures.
PNN
